Taliban Leader Dead Due To Sad News Of Scientists Finding That There Is No G-Spot And Air Strike From Predator Drone. But Mostly Air Strike From Predator Drone.

Via The Other McCain and Barce Pundit.

Another terrorist is finding out if it was 72 virgins or raisins awaiting him in Paradise. Or Hell.

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, who was linked to the murder of seven CIA agents, has died after being wounded in a US drone attack, according to reports.

And the G-spot thing is here. The link to the article. Not the actual G-spot. You're on your own with that. Sadly, the terrorist never heard the news that there is one. Not that he would know what to do with it if he found the G-spot.

Alma

Via David Thompson.

Make your children watch this so they will know what will happen in they walk into strange stores. A tale with the right mixture of childhood whimsy and something nefarious brewing underneath the surface.

That and dolls just plain creep me out.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

It's For Science: The Learning Channel Co-Host Edition

LINKBACK UPDATE: The Daily Gator starts off with his Rule 5 Round up.

LINKBACK UPDATE II: Smitty links for The Other McCain's Rule 5 Sunday.

This might be the last week I try this. The science seems to be settled. It's the hotter chick that is usually the most approachable.

Anyway, one last go around. Of the these two co-hosts, which would be the more approachable in a social setting? The one you are more likely to go up to and say "Hello".

Stacy London of TLC's What Not To Wear.

Adrienne Janic of TLC's Overhaulin'.

Please leave your choice in the comment section. Thanks.

Previously:
Week One.
Week Two.
Week Three.
Week Four.
Week Five.

Congratulations

LINKBACK UPDATE: Smitty links for Rule 5 Sunday.

To the new Miss America. Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron.

May she be a benevolent queen for the duration of her reign.

Andrew Klavan: Liberal Fantasies vs. Reality, Can you Spot the Difference?

Klavan touches up on a pet peeve that I have. How popular culture always depicts Native Americans as living in harmony with the world when the reality it was quite the opposite.

The Aztecs practiced human sacrifices. Then peel the skin off the body by a slit in the back of the head and back. The priest would then crawl inside the skin and perform his rituals to appease the gods.

Apache Indians were raiders and would steal the harvest of neighboring tribes. When the white man moved west, the Apache, doing what they do, started raids on them, instead.

Man is a brutal creature.



Via Doug over at the Gator.

The Family Tree Of Musical Theater

UPDATE: Linked by Pundette over at P & P.

UPDATE II: Smitty links for Rule 5 Sunday. Try here for more fun at Lady Gaga's expense.

I use to think that Lady Gaga would be the offspring of Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson. But that analogy might be off a smidgen.

Now if Deborah Harry and Alice Cooper had a son. And if Sinead O'Connor and David Bowie had a daughter. Then if their offspring hooked up and had a daughter, she would be Lady Gaga.



If you need a palate cleanser after that, maybe this can help.

Thought Police Operating In Oz?

UPDATE II: The story was only kinda sorta true. It was blown out of proportion, if you will. Thanks to Ace who fell for it too.

UPDATED: Linked by The Daily Gator.

The Aussie government is there to help protect the children by banning porn actresses with A-Cups.

Just when you thought that extremist knee jerk fear based reactions to non existent threats were something only the Northern Hemisphere got into, Australia has banned adult material with small breasted women in it, fearing that filthy pedophiles will gain enjoyment from it.

So, if this makes sense to a government bureaucracy, why not turn your health care over to them as well?*


To Clarify: This is not a defense of pedophilia. Rather the round about thinking that lawmakers go through to help 'protect' the populace. The justification using 'For The Children' is trotted out for a case of getting a foothold in censorship.


*Granted, it's the Australian government but it's still a bureaucratic organization trying to control and regulate everything deemed 'bad'.

Via Becky.

The Credibility Gap

UPDATED: Linked by Doug at The Gator.

From a certain someone's Face Book page. Much better than whoever wrote Barack's speech last night.

While I don’t wish to speak too harshly about President Obama’s state of the union address, we live in challenging times that call for candor. I call them as I see them, and I hope my frank assessment will be taken as an honest effort to move this conversation forward.

Last night, the president spoke of the “credibility gap” between the public’s expectations of their leaders and what those leaders actually deliver. “Credibility gap” is a good way to describe the chasm between rhetoric and reality in the president’s address. The contradictions seemed endless.

He called for Democrats and Republicans to “work through our differences,” but last year he dismissed any notion of bipartisanship when he smugly told Republicans, “I won.”

He talked like a Washington “outsider,” but he runs Washington! He’s had everything any president could ask for – an overwhelming majority in Congress and a fawning press corps that feels tingles every time he speaks. There was nothing preventing him from pursuing “common sense” solutions all along. He didn’t pursue them because they weren’t his priorities, and he spent his speech blaming Republicans for the problems caused by his own policies.

He dared us to “let him know” if we have a better health care plan, but he refused to allow Republicans in on the negotiations or consider any ideas for real free market and patient-centered reforms. We’ve been “letting him know” our ideas for months from the town halls to the tea parties, but he isn’t interested in listening. Instead he keeps making the nonsensical claim that his massive trillion-dollar health care bill won’t increase the deficit.

Americans are suffering from job losses and lower wages, yet the president practically demanded applause when he mentioned tax cuts, as if allowing people to keep more of their own hard-earned money is an act of noblesse oblige. He claims that he cut taxes, but I must have missed that. I see his policies as paving the way for massive tax increases and inflation, which is the “hidden tax” that most hurts the poor and the elderly living on fixed incomes.

He condemned lobbyists, but his White House is filled with former lobbyists, and this has been a banner year for K Street with his stimulus bill, aka the Lobbyist’s Full Employment Act. He talked about a “deficit of trust” and the need to “do our work in the open,” but he chased away the C-SPAN cameras and cut deals with insurance industry lobbyists behind closed doors.

He spoke of doing what’s best for the next generation and not leaving our children with a “mountain of debt,” but under his watch this year, government spending is up by 22%, and his budget will triple our national debt.

He spoke of a spending freeze, but doesn’t he realize that each new program he’s proposing comes with a new price tag? A spending freeze is a nice idea, but it doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. We need a comprehensive examination of the role of government spending. The president’s deficit commission is little more than a bipartisan tax hike committee, lending political cover to raise taxes without seriously addressing the problem of spending.

He condemned bailouts, but he voted for them and then expanded and extended them. He praised the House’s financial reform bill, but where was Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in that bill? He still hasn’t told us when we’ll be getting out of the auto and the mortgage industries. He praised small businesses, but he’s spent the past year as a friend to big corporations and their lobbyists, who always find a way to make government regulations work in their favor at the expense of their mom & pop competitors.

He praised the effectiveness of his stimulus bill, but then he called for another one – this time cleverly renamed a “jobs bill.” The first stimulus was sold to us as a jobs bill that would keep unemployment under 8%. We now have double digit unemployment with no end in sight. Why should we trust this new “jobs bill”?

He talked about “making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development,” but apparently it’s still too tough for his Interior Secretary to move ahead with Virginia’s offshore oil and gas leases. If they’re dragging their feet on leases, how long will it take them to build “safe, clean nuclear power plants”? Meanwhile, he continued to emphasize “green jobs,” which require massive government subsidies for inefficient technologies that can’t survive on their own in the real world of the free market.

He spoke of supporting young girls in Afghanistan who want to go to school and young women in Iran who courageously protest in the streets, but where were his words of encouragement to the young girls of Afghanistan in his West Point speech? And where was his support for the young women of Iran when they were being gunned down in the streets of Tehran?

Despite speaking for over an hour, the president only spent 10% of his speech on foreign policy, and he left us with many unanswered questions. Does he still think trying the 9/11 terrorists in New York is a good idea? Does he still think closing Gitmo is a good idea? Does he still believe in Mirandizing terrorists after the Christmas bomber fiasco? Does he believe we’re in a war against terrorists, or does he think this is just a global crime spree? Does he understand that the first priority of our government is to keep our country safe?

In his address last night, the president once again revealed that there’s a fundamental disconnect between what the American people expect from their government, and what he wants to deliver. He’s still proposing failed top-down big government solutions to our problems. Instead of smaller, smarter government, he’s taken a government that was already too big and supersized it.

Real private sector jobs are created when taxes are low, investment is high, and people are free to go about their business without the heavy hand of government. The president thinks innovation comes from government subsidies. Common sense conservatives know innovation comes from unleashing the creative energy of American entrepreneurs.

Everything seems to be “unexpected” to this administration: unexpected job losses; unexpected housing numbers; unexpected political losses in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey. True leaders lead best when confronted with the unexpected. But instead of leading us, the president lectured us. He lectured Wall Street; he lectured Main Street; he lectured Congress; he even lectured our Supreme Court Justices.

He criticized politicians who “wage a perpetual campaign,” but he gave a campaign speech instead of a state of the union address. The campaign is over, and President Obama now has something that candidate Obama never had: an actual track record in office. We now can see the failed policies behind the flowery words. If Americans feel as cynical as the president suggests, perhaps it’s because the audacity of his recycled rhetoric no longer inspires hope.

Real leadership requires results. Real hope lies in the ingenuity, generosity, and boundless courage of the American people whose voices are still not being heard in Washington.

- Sarah Palin

Quote For The Week

UPDATED: Linked by Doug at The Gator.

He scolded the justices of the Supreme Court in front of their faces and led the entire Democratic side of the aisle into cheering his taunts. The justices sat there stone-faced (save Justice Alito, whose reaction probably betrayed what the rest were thinking).

He scolded Republicans for obstruction and declared “we can’t wage a perpetual campaign” — even as he continued, in his speech, his perpetual campaign against President Bush. The fact is, by this time in their presidencies, both of his predecessors had reached across the aisle to seek opposition support for a major initiative (Clinton on NAFTA, Bush on No Child Left Behind). Obama has not one single significant bipartisan initiative to speak of. He has tried to ram through his agenda along strict party-line votes. But the Republicans are obstructionist.
[. . .]
His one moment of “humility” came when he acknowledged his biggest mistake of the past year: his failure to adequately explain his policies to all of us. This was a State of the Union for the slow learners. His message to all of us was: “Let me speak slowly for you.”

Soon To Be 90% Off

Via e-mail.

"Who Decides How Much Americans Can Speak During Elections?"

Explains the McCain-Fiengold ruling that happened in the Supreme Court better than I could.

Will the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision destroy American democracy? You might think so given the responses of its critics. The Citizens United decision, far from signaling the fall of the republic, strengthens the First Amendment and freedom of speech.

Political speech should be the most protected of all. As in, not censored or limited at all. Please read the entire report.

Besides, the ruling gets guys like Frank Schaeffer's panties all in a knot. That in and of itself is a good thing.

Remember Frank's four inevitable truths before reading him.

RELATED: Blogs just as protected under the First Amendment as the Press. Seeing how they are a natural progression of the news cycle.

The First Amendment protects all citizens in their ability to speak and write and blog.

In evaluating constitutional rights, some jurists and legal scholars use "originalism." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is perhaps foremost among them.

"Our manner of interpreting the Constitution," he says, "is to begin with the text and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted."

Speech is speech, whether it's spoken, written on paper or transmitted over copper and glass. It ought to be protected as such.

The Cato Institute Calls Out Barack's State Of The Union

Still amazed on how fast The Cato Institute cranked out this video. Touching on several points of Barack's speech. Someone had to show where Barack went wrong.



Tip of the hat to Treacher.

Cross posted at the Richmond Liberty Alliance.

Can I Claim Credit For This?

Last night, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell delivered the Republican response Barack Obama's State Of The Union speech. The chosen local was the House of Assemblies in Richmond.

Not quite a town hall setting but it still had the desired effect. Yes. It was my idea.

The transcript of McDonnell's speech can be found here.

"Promote The General Welfare, Not Provide Welfare"

The RNC needs to recruit more guys like this. Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is energetic, charismatic and understands liberty and how government works against that. And he's running for Congress in the 22nd district, Florida.



I'm about to buy a gun just to attach a bayonet to it right now.

This might be old but it's new to me. Thanks to Jim.

This Idea Won Bob McDonnell At Least 5 Points In The Election

Close the state controlled ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) stores and open it up for the free market? About time. More liquor locations with better hours without the overhead that Virginia provides. Sounds win/win to me.



Via Instapundit.

Oh Crap

James O'Keefe arrested?

Alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

Also arrested were Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan, all 24. Flanagan is the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, the office confirmed. All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

Only speculation here but he could have been targeted for some undercover sting and O'Keefe was chomping at the bit to go after a big fish.

James O'Keefe was one of the two undercover journalists to do the expose on ACORN and child prostitution.

Dan has more and Ace has the affidavit.

One More Reason Not To Trust The NRSC With Your Lunch Money

Because the candidate they endorsed is dropping in the polls.

This is why the NRSC needed to wait until after the primary. Not before when, for example, a young, charismatic young man may emerge who will be a much, much better candidate that Charlie Crist.

For the first time, Quinnipiac finds the former state House Speaker Marco Rubio leading the formerly very popular — and still well-known — Gov. Charlie Crist by a margin of 47% to 44%.

“Who would have thunk it? A former state lawmaker virtually unknown outside of his South Florida home whose challenge to an exceedingly popular sitting governor for a U.S. Senate nomination had many insiders scratching their heads,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “He enters the race 31 points behind and seven months later sneaks into the lead.”

“And, the horse race numbers are not a fluke,” Brown added. “Rubio also tops Crist on a number of other measurements from registered Republicans, who are the only folks who can vote in the primary. Rubio’s grassroots campaigning among Republican activists around the state clearly has paid off.”

And we suspect the poll is only telling part of the tale for Rubio because the energy is on his side

RELATED: Donations to Rubio and Crist seem to be matching the polls. Crist's numbers have dropped off slightly. Rubio has had his best quarter yet.

Poll results via Ace of Spades.

Cross posted at Not One Red Cent.

Mr. President: Please Try, "I'm Listening, People," Instead of "Listen Up, People!"

From Gov. Sarah Palin's Facebook page.

We’ve now seen three landslide Republican victories in three states that President Obama carried in 2008. From the tea parties to the town halls to the Massachusetts Miracle, Americans have tried to make their opposition to Washington’s big government agenda loud and clear. But the President has decided that this current discontent isn’t his fault, it’s ours. He seems to think we just don’t understand what’s going on because he hasn’t had the chance – in his 411 speeches and 158 interviews last year – to adequately explain his policies to us.

Instead of sensibly telling the American people, “I’m listening,” the president is saying, “Listen up, people!” This approach is precisely the reason people are upset with Washington. Americans understand the president’s policies. We just don’t agree with them. But the president has refused to shift focus and come around to the center from the far left. Instead he and his old campaign advisers are regrouping to put a new spin on the same old agenda for 2010.

Americans aren’t looking for more political strategists. We’re looking for real leadership that listens and delivers results. The president’s former campaign adviser is now calling on supporters to “get on the same page,” but what’s on that page? He claims that the president is “resolved” to “keep fighting for” his agenda, but we’ve already seen what that government-growth agenda involves, and frankly the hype doesn’t give us much hope. Real health care reform requires a free market approach; real job creation involves incentivizing, not punishing, the job-creators; reining in the “big banks” means ending bailouts; and stopping “the undue influence of lobbyists” means not cutting deals with them behind closed doors.

Instead of real leadership, though, we’ve had broken promises and backroom deals. One of the worst: candidate Obama promised to go through the federal budget “with a scalpel,” but President Obama spent four times more than his predecessor. Want more? Candidate Obama promised that lobbyists “won’t find a job in my White House,” but President Obama gave at least a dozen former lobbyists top administration jobs. Candidate Obama promised us that we could view his health care deliberations openly and honestly on C-SPAN, but President Obama cut deals behind closed doors with industry lobbyists. Candidate Obama promised us that we would have at least five days to read all major legislation, but President Obama rushed through bills before members of Congress could even read them.

Candidate Obama promised us that his economic stimulus package would be targeted and pork-free, but President Obama signed a stimulus bill loaded with pork and goodies for corporate cronies. Candidate Obama railed against Wall Street greed, but President Obama cozied up to bankers as he extended and expanded their bailouts. Candidate Obama promised us that for “Every dollar that I’ve proposed [in spending], I’ve proposed an additional cut so that it matches.” We’re still waiting to see how President Obama will cut spending to match the trillion he’s spent.

More than anything, Americans were promised jobs, but the president’s stimulus package has failed to stem our rising unemployment rate. Maybe it was unfair to expect that an administration with so little private sector experience would understand something about job creation. How many Obama Administration officials have ever had to make a payroll or craft a business plan in the private sector? How many have had to worry about not having the resources to invest and expand? The president’s big government policies have made hiring a new employee a difficult commitment for employers to make. Ask yourself if the Obama Administration has done anything to make it easier for employers to hire. Have they given us any reassurance that the president will keep taxes low and not impose expensive new regulations?

Candidate Obama over-promised; President Obama has under-delivered. We understand you, Mr. President. We’ve listened to you again and again. We ask that you now listen to the American people.

- Sarah Palin

Shake Up In Delaware

The Nation is saved from a Biden legacy.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President Beau Biden, e-mailed supporters on Monday morning to say that he will not seek his father’s Senate seat, a blow to the Democratic Party.

Kennedy, Bush and the Clintons are enough of a 'legacy'. Joe Biden, of all people, doesn't need one.

The Final Season Kicks Off On Feb. 2

For the all the fans of LOST.

The crash and all the flashbacks from Oceanic Flight 815 were edited together in real time, a la 24. Very well made, I might add.



If you need to catch up with the last few seasons, this will do it for you in about 8 minutes and 15 seconds (8:15, see what they did there?). To be fair, that's the same site I stole the above clip from.

Broken At Last

Susan B. Anthony. Jackie Robinson. Markus.

The 'Glass Ceiling' is in shards in Nevada. The way has been cleared for male gigolos everywhere.

The Shady Lady Ranch successfully won state and county approval to clear the way for the "prostidude," as Nevada's newest sex worker is already being called. After a slow first week on the job, his first appointments are scheduled for this weekend.

"Markus" has quickly become the center of attention in Nevada's brothel industry. He has been criticized by female counterparts for not being willing to have sex with men. And he created a dustup after telling Details Magazine that his pioneering role in the sex business was "just the same" as civil rights icon Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus.

Quite the niche market.

He'll be competing with other guys who will happily offer the same service for free. Thousands of guys offering their services for free. And won't be looking at the clock to see if the hour is up yet.

If the argument is that the woman isn't attractive enough for guys to offer her that service then she isn't looking. There will be a man out there who will be happy to.

Nice publicity for the brothel, however. Better invest in Viagra for Markus. Women can fake their performances better than men. And won't need the downtime either.

Thanks to Matt for the story.

From Some Award Show

UPDATE: Linked by Smitty over at The Other McCain.

PREVIOUSLY:

Christina Hendricks made an appearance. The show had to do something with globes. I think.

As I understand it, fake. She dies her hair that color.

I'm still trying to keep the Science updates going. It's overdue.

What The Repeal of McCain-Feingold Really Means

The Supreme struck down part of the McCain-Feingold law earlier this week as unconstitutional.

What that means to most people is explained right here. It's not just 'evil corporations'.

From the CATO Institute.



Via Insty and The Examiner.

Get This Guy A Job At Pixar

At times it was difficult to tell but this was all CGI. And very cool. Keep that in mind when watching the wheatfields blowing in the wind. The floating water bubbles help give it away.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Watch it on full screen.

Thanks to someone not worth mentioning.

Shocking Report! Obama Seen As Anti-Business.

Whatever would give US investors that idea?

The global quarterly poll of investors and analysts who are Bloomberg subscribers finds that 77 percent of U.S. respondents believe Obama is too anti-business and four-out-of-five are only somewhat confident or not confident of his ability to handle a financial emergency.

The poll also finds a decline in Obama’s overall favorability rating one year after taking office. He is viewed favorably by 27 percent of U.S. investors. In an October poll, 32 percent in the U.S. held a positive impression.
[. . .]
Unlike other recent presidents, Obama hasn’t selected a leading business executive for his cabinet or a top advisory role. One year after taking office, he is coping with a jobless rate hovering around 10 percent and a federal deficit that rose to $1.4 trillion last year. In response, he has proposed a fee on as many as 50 large financial firms and yesterday called for limiting the size and trading activities of financial institutions as a way to reduce risk-taking.[emphasis and bold mine]

Shocking, I know. It's almost as if he has had no experience in the private sector at all.

Senator Russ Feingold Of Wisconsin Vulnerable?

Via Ann Althouse.

Yep, appears so.

Feingold had earned their support for his plain spoken style and his occasional bipartisan forays — one of which bit the dust today as blatantly unconstitutional. However, given the hostile reception Feingold has received at town-hall meetings, Wisconsin voters may be ready for a change — and Tommy Thompson could end the tenure of the Senate’s most liberal member

Scott Brown was a game changer.

Hopefully, more and more people get involved with the electoral process for the long haul and not just til the next election.

The New Game Plan On Socialized Health Care

Don't think that because the Government Take Over Of Health Insurance is on the back burner for now doesn't mean it will stay there.

Glenn Beck used this analogy a couple of years ago when amnesty was being pushed through by Maverick and Teddy Kennedy. The initial bill was stopped, not enough critters in Congress wanted to vote for something as toxic as that. Instead of voting on one big bill, the plan was changed to vote through several little bills.

The analogy was that your doctor telling you to lay off the fast food value meals. Rather than going through the drive-through and getting the value meal, you went around three separate times to get a Coke, burger and fries instead. Even though you didn't get the 'Value Meal' you still ended up with all three items on the menu that you shouldn't be eating.

That is what will be coming next.

Degüello.

ZZ Top Has A Duet With Jessica Simpson And I'm The Last To Know About This?

It's enjoyable but rather odd to watch.



I think Jessica is out of her niche here. She is, however, fun to watch. Reminds me of the line in a song by The Tractors. "She doesn't know what she's doing but she does her very best."

Anyway, to witness the uniting power of music, watch the next clip. The North, the South and Canada represented on one stage. In harmony. ZZ Top from Texas, Kid Rock from Michigan and Nickelback from Canada.



Linked: Here by The Daily Gator. Trying to horn in on my Jessica Simpson rule 5 action, from the looks of it. It's my own fault for not doing enough Fox News Babes comparisons.

It Can Happen

But I'll believe it when I see it.

Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) tells his [. . .] caucus that the long debate over ObamaCare has left him so vulnerable at home that he may as well join Dorgan for retirement
[. . .]
Pomeroy isn’t alone in this, although he’s the only one publicly acknowledging that his longtime sinecure in the House may be coming to an end. John Boccieri (D-OH), Jason Altmire (D-PA), and Steve Dreihaus (D-OH) all say the same thing — that they need to get this off the table so that they can focus on economic policy and job creation. They need to show their constituents that they’re paying attention to the real crisis in the US.

The smart democrats will retire now. That way, they can get in on the ground floor with any of the lobbying firms that hire old Congressmen. With any luck, there will be a run on the lobbyist job market and the Democrats who have been voted out on their ass will have to actually go back to their own state for a job.

Regardless, not a good year for Democrats even with Teh Won as President.

Quote For The Week: Anniversary Edition

Happy one-year anniversary, Stupid! We got you a Senator.

Gov. Bob McDonnell Will Respond To Barack Obama's State Of The Union Speech

LINKED BY: Bob at The Camp Of The Saints.

Not even a week into his new job and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is about to be in the national spotlight. He'll be the Republican response to the State Of The Union speech. The style of the setting helped take away from any of the substance.

A word of advice to Gov. McDonnell:

Please give your response in front of a town hall type event. Consider Gov. Bobby Jindal's response from last year. After Obama's speech of cheers and applause, Jindal's response in an empty room seemed hallow and out of place.

It might be easier to give the speech without the interruptions of applause. But the perception on TV across the nation will be better received. The segue from Congress to a town hall filled with supporters won't be as abrupt and the energy in the room will be noticed on TV.

It's a sad fact but appearances matter. It's a campaign speech. No one is running but the values and ideals of the Republican party. The audience will help punctuate key issues in your speech. Lower taxes, yea! Smaller government, hooray! Letting people keep more of their own money to create jobs, *thunderous applause*. It will help devalue what the liberal pundit will say after the speech. When he comes on to tell the viewers what you really meant to say and proceed to get it all wrong because. . . Well, most pundits on the networks are liberals and get everything wrong to begin with. Your response will be no different.

Think of it as canned laughter for a sitcom. The jokes are there and most people get them. The prerecorded laughs help to highlight gags to someone who isn’t paying much attention.

Elections Have Consequences, Part II

Goes to show what can happen when you elect someone who isn't a natural born citizen of the US into an Executive Office*.

Every day thousands of Americans vote with their feet on the best places to live and work, and these migration patterns can tell a lot about state economies -- and economic policies, says the Wall Street Journal. United Van Lines has released its annual report for 2009, based on those the moving company has relocated across one state line to another, and the winner is . . .

But first the biggest loser, which was Michigan for the fourth year in a row.

*I'm talking about Canadian born Jennifer Granholm. Who did you think I was talking about?

Elections Have Consequences

Would this be a game of Washington DC Standoff? Threatening to force the ill-named Health Care Reform through Congress regardless of the result of the special election in Massachusetts? Sen. Jim Webb blinked first soon after Scott Brown won Tuesday night.

I guess Congress can get a clue after all. It was a matter of finding the right blunt instrument to beat them with. Who would have thought that the cluebat in question would have been in the form of Teddy Kennedy's old Senate Seat?



Cross posted at The Richmond Liberty Alliance.

Good News!

The debt ceiling is not being raised to 1.8 trillion dollars.

Bad News. It's being raised to 1.9 instead. A billion here, a billion there. Soon, Congress starts to talk about real money.

Republicans were caught off guard by the scale of the increase which follows a $290 billion short-term debt increase approved prior to Christmas. “That’s just escapism of the worst sort,” Sen. Judd Gregg (R.,N.H.) told POLITICO. But Democrats countered that their only alternative would be to give-in to a Republican strategy of forcing multiple smaller debt ceiling increases, designed to bleed them politically before November.

This perception was reinforced by a meeting Tuesday between Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). By going now with the higher $1.9 trillion target, Democrats are making a high-stakes gamble that the party can pull together once more to put the debt ceiling issue behind them for this election year.

“We have to do this. The alternative is worse,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D—Mont.) in a brief interview.

Because the alternative is. . . Not spending? Reigning in costs? Borrowing $800 billion from China?

The election in Massachusetts was somewhat of a wake up call for Congress due to their walk-back on the ill-named 'Health Care Reform'. Make sure they don't roll over and hit the snooze button anytime soon.

Talk About Getting In Their Face

Marc Theisen goes on CNN to talk about his book and proceeds to call Christiane Amanpour out.

The book is Courting Disaster, by the way.





Human Events has the transcript of the key exchange.

The Today Show's Interview With Senator Scott Brown.

From his Office of Senator Elect.

Is it just me or do many of the questions are based on the pretext that Scott Brown is some kind of horrible monster and Meredith Vieira is doing what she can to expose him?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MORE: What is the over/under on this guy trying to keep his promise of not voting anymore?

t's true that Dem's can not govern because they don't have the balls to go liberal and test the public. Therefore, we keep getting centrist ineffective bills that only piss liberals off. The center-right Dems like it, though. We can not govern and, therefore, should not hold our hope.
I will not vote for any of them because I will not vote, anymore. We lost and I no longer care what Americans get. They can live in squalor and slavery to corporations. Disappointing? Sure, but that's reality now.
Good work Mass and you, especially, Coke-head. Stupid bitch.

Via Eric at The Pool Bar.

Jim Webb Feeling The Heat?

LINKED: Over at The Daily Gator who has more about Barney Frank wanting to step back from 'Health Care Reform' as well.

Previously:

Maybe he's realizing that yeah, the current health care bill is a turd sandwich the Democratic controlled Congress was going to shove down the throats of America.

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said the upper chamber shouldn't move forward with healthcare or any other bills until Brown is sworn in.

"In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process," Webb said in a statement. "To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated."

Or did he realize just how much at risk he is and trying to save his job?

Via Doug at Below The Beltway.

Scott Brown Wins!

Dip accordingly.*

Time to get to work.



*To be in on the joke. Probably not for the squeamish.

The Left Wing Media Circles It’s Wagons Around Katie Couric Again.

It would be comical if it wasn’t so sad. Katie Couric is getting another award for her interview with Gov. Sarah Palin. This time it’s the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism giving out the awards like it was a Nobel Peace Prize. As my cousin in Alaska mentioned to me, “Condescendingly asking someone which newspapers they read is award-winning journalism?”

I’m not complaining about the interview. Palin herself said it was an awful interview. It’s also the go-to interview for any of her detractors to use against her. Disregarding any other interview she's done since then.

I am using this to help illustrate the blatantly obvious biased that Katie Couric and the rest of the Left Wing Media (LWM) has. Within a matter of weeks, Couric interviewed Joe ‘The Sheriff’ Biden and helped to showcase his outright ignorance of historical knowledge. Couric’s own knowledge of history must be on par with that of Biden’s because she let it fly right over her head without any notice. She had the look of a groupie waiting patiently to go backstage to see the rock star but has to deal with the security guard first. “OK, old man, let’s get this over with so I can move onto Barack.”


The key quote for those who don't want to watch the interview:

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed,” Biden told Couric. “He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”

And that’s what CBS left in. Who knows what ended up on the cutting room floor in order to present a favorable view of Obama’s campaign. If Couric was half the journalist she claimed to be it would have been her duty to correct Biden. If not there then mention it during the broadcast. Somehow it slipped past the layers of fact checkers that CBS employs.

Couric was dead last in the ratings before interviewing Palin. In fact she would have to have doubled her ratings to catch up with who was in second place. Couric had nothing to lose but her job. Her ratings surged for a little while afterwards; however she’s back in last place again. This award was a way to pat her on the head to let her know how good of a little liberal doggie she is.

Heh, Martha "iDon't" Coakley

My Thoughts On Barack Obama's Stump Speech For Martha Coakley

It wasn't so much a speech for Martha Coakley but more of a speech for the Government Takeover of Health Care.

He only spoke of her as if he was talking about using the right tool for the job. In a way, he's right about that.

Brown for Senate.

I'll Never Understand The Appeal Of Bill Clinton

At first glance, he looks like a nice guy. Then he speaks.

When I told him that some had been critical of his decision to stump for Coakley while hundreds of thousands are still trapped under rubble, he responded with annoyance: “Who?” he challenged, “who is criticizing me? It’s your problem if you can’t see how these things aren’t mutually exclusive.” Electing Coakley, he said, will “help lead to good governance” that will support Haiti while it rebuilds.

The catastrophe of what happened in Haiti was bad enough. But to politicize it? Leave it to a democrat to do such a disgusting thing.

Anyone want to guess what the odds are of Barack doing the same thing when he'll be stumping for Coakley?

Scott Brown for Senate.

This Scott Brown Endorsement Has To Sting Martha Coakley

From the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition:

Members of our Association have inquired and requested that we endorse Scott Brown in the upcoming election against Martha Coakley. Ms. Coakley along with some of her campaign workers have talked publicly about how her husband is a retired Cambridge Police Officer, giving appearances that she is being endorsed by the Cambridge Police. This may be an innocent insinuation but most do take this as our giving her our support and endorsement. Yesterday, the CPPOA Executive Board voted to endorse State Senator Scott Brown in the upcoming election for US Senate.[Emphasis Mine]

Via Before It's News.

I Dig Their Name

How can you go wrong with a name like The Eagles Of Death Metal? Because of that and for what their lead singer said here are reasons enough to like them.



Another taste of The Eagles Of Death Metal can be found here.

Is This The End For Martha Coakley?

It's still a close race up in Massachusetts but Scott Brown might win after all. Things don't look good for Martha. The tip off?

"This is a Creigh Deeds situation," the Democrat says. "I don't think it says that the Obama agenda is a problem. I think it says, 1) that she's a terrible candidate, 2) that she ran a terrible campaign, 3) that the climate is difficult but she should have been able to overcome it, and 4) that Democrats beware -- you better run good campaigns, or you're going to lose." [Emphasis Mine]

It's a good sign but I'm not going to celebrate just yet. If Brown wins next Tuesday, then I'll pop the champagne.

I Can Almost See Where They Are Coming From

It's from the RT.

Part of their ad campaign. For some odd reason, airports in America didn't want to display these posters in their terminals.

This one has a point. Which is easier? Influence someone so that they make the decision you want or point a gun at them and tell them?

Quote For The Week: Anarchy And The Attorney General Edition

"I know there were people following, including two from the Brown campaign who have been very aggressive in their stalking,” Coakley told reporters during an appearance at Kit Clark Senior Services in Dorchester. “I’m not sure what happened. I know something occurred, but I’m not privy to the facts. I’m sure it will come out, but I’m not aware of that.”

It's Worse Than A Game Of Three-Card Monte

Keeping up with the ins and outs of the Health Care Bill.

Tax on middle class health plans. Even though Obama lambasted John McCain during the campaign for doing just that.

Now Union health care plans will be exempt. For now.

And if Card Check-- employees losing the secret
ballot if they want to unionize-- goes through, that could wipe out that exemption in the future. Because government programs are notorious for growing beyond their original purpose, union workers will need to pay their fair share at that time. By that time, Card Check will be in place. Anyway, that's enough speculation on my part.

Who knows in the end. The bill being worked on is behind closed doors right now. The public might even have a chance to read it before Barack Obama signs it into law.

There is only one sure way to escape-- as much as one can-- ObamaCare. Be rich.

New Jobless Report. Now With More Change

And Hope!

The Labor Department said Thursday new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000. Wall Street economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected an increase of only 3,000.

The rise was partly a result of large seasonal layoffs in the retail, manufacturing and construction industries, a Labor Department analyst said. The second week of January usually sees the largest increase in claims, unadjusted for seasonal trends, during the year, the analyst said.

Still, the increase didn't disrupt the longer-term downward trend in claims. The four-week average dropped to 440,750, its 19th straight drop and lowest level since August 2008.

Initial claims are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of companies' willingness to hire new workers.

Could one reason why so many companies are hesitent to hire because of the potential taxes about to hit? If either one or both Cap And Trade and Health Care pass, costs will be passed on. It's high school economics.

Forgot about this. The Bush tax cuts are about to expire soon. Another tax hike by all accounts.

Reagan's Speech On Health Care, As A Reminder

The Great Communicator can explain better it than anyone else. Even without the Public Option, this Health Care bill is definitely a 'Foot In The Door'.

Social Security was never intended to be a primary income for retired senior citizens, only as a supplement. Now it's what many seniors depend on. I pointed out here just how many times that the Social Security Act is amended by Reid's version of the Health Care bill. As to how many times it was amended? Short answer is: I lost count when I tried. It was a drinking game, after all.

And seeing how Congress has a predilection for legislation that's 2000 pages and costs 800 billion dollars-- not to mention paperclip amendments that have nothing to do with the stated bill-- is it unreasonable to imagine that the Health Care bill will be expanded in the future to include a controlling Public Option?



Cross posted at the Richmond Liberty Alliance.

Be Sure To Tune In Tonight

Jimmie from The Sundries Shack will be hosting his internet radio show tonight. He kicks it off at 9 PM (EST).

Be sure to check it out.

Let's Play "Who Will You Believe"

In one corner there is the USA Today:

Even with the $787 billion stimulus package that Obama signed in February [Which didn't help], more than 4 million jobs have been lost in 2009, the worst year for job losses since World War II. The jobless rate that advisers projected would peak at 8% has topped 10%.

In the other corner, ABC News.

But the report from the President's Council of Economic Advisers said the economy is a lot better off than it would have been without the stimulus. Citing its own analysis plus a range of private sector summaries, the council estimated the annual growth rate last year would have been roughly 2 percentage points lower, and there would have been 1.5 million to 2 million fewer jobs.

So which is it? Jobs lost or jobs saved? Before the game starts, there's this to keep in mind about the 'Jobs Saved or Created'. Hide the jobs decline.

Via Ace and Jammie Wearing Fool.

Cross Posted at The Richmond Liberty Alliance.

Whoa. It's The People's Seat, Not The Kennedy's

I can't believe I missed this:



Not only a shot against Martha Coakley-- hand picked by the Kennedy Family to run for the seat-- but also showing the subliminal bias in the media for the liberal mindset. In David Gergen's mind, the seat is bought and paid for by the Kennedy's for the lifetime of the country. There's only the formality of an election. Too bad the only person named 'Kennedy' has no relation to the family. That they know of.

I have to admit to feeling 'Skittelisious' about the potential for a Republican to win the Senate seat that was held by The Liberal Lion Of The Senate.

Thanks to Smitty.

OTHER NEWS ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS SENATE RACE.

From The Boston Herald no less:

Team Obama and the Washington elites see this Senate seat as theirs, not yours. They’re annoyed that the race is competitive. In fact, they’re annoyed that there has to be a race at all. They would have preferred Gov. Deval Patrick make a straight-up appointment of some loyal party hack, rather than have anyone face the voters.

But it was their own scheming and sense of entitlement that revoked the gubernatorial appointment process while Mitt Romney was in the Corner Office, and then forced them to push the post-mortem Kennedy seat law last year. And even that’s not enough. Interim appointee Paul Kirk is violating the explicit instructions of the Legislature and openly campaigning for Coakley.

When you vote for Scott Brown, you’ll be voting against every arrogant Beacon Hill pol who shameless changed the rules of this Massachusetts game.

And this Tweet from Jake Tapper:

Gibbs says "a lot at stake" w/Mass. Senate race but POTUS still has no plans to go. Hmmmm.

There is still fallout from where a member of Coakley's campaign shoved a reporter out of their way.

Click here to see previous entries on Scott Brown.

American Idol Shake Up

It looks like Simon Cowell is leaving the show, American Idol. I guess he's tired of doing the same old thing. Traveling the country, listening to some good-- and some extremely bad-- singers to see who has the potential to be a star. Nine years of that would be enough for anyone.

He's bringing his show, The X-Factor, over from England. Fox will broadcast the show where Simon Cowell will be traveling the country, listening to some good-- and some extremely bad-- singers to see who has the potential to be a star.

Yeah, it's a good thing he's not doing the same old thing all over again.

Democrat Grassroots Groups Match Scott Brown's Money Bomb

Forgive the round up sounding fashion of this but here it goes:

Something is in the water and has them running scared. Hence their sudden donations.

And by grassroots I really mean SEIU and the DSCC (And tea parties are astroturfed by people being paid to be there). But if they spend their money on people holding signs for Martha Coakley but who are going to vote for Scott Brown anyway, it's money well spent.

They're going to need it with the way Martha Coakley treated this staffer from The Weekly Standard.



Not to mention a good spell check program. It's her very own state, for crying out loud.

Robert Stacy has Brown's ad and some insightful analysis of it.

It's Worth Reading The New York Times For This

Picture credit NYT. Picture benefit for the ladies.

Marco Rubio is featured in the New York Times Magazine this month. You wouldn't know it from the ten paragraphs in the story.

Part of it is confusing because Mark Leibovich muses about why Crist is a 'scourge' among Republicans:

Crist has become a conservative scourge, for reasons he seems at a loss to understand and that in some ways have nothing to do with him.

When he answers the question a earlier in that paragraph:

[T]he governor’s biggest sin was his support for the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic-stimulus package.

Not sure how Leibovich is dense enough to write that. Maybe he's like the beaten woman who goes back to her abusive husband. He just doesn't get it.

The takeaway quote from Rubio that I liked:

“I’m not a fan of personality-based politics,” Rubio said. “Very third worldish.” People who pin their trust and faith in a person are bound to be disappointed, he said. “I’m just a messenger for a set of ideas.”

It's eight pages long, a novel in the age of the blogosphere but please read the entire thing. Except for the last part of the last page. Only in the New York Times would a profile about Marco Rubio begins and end talking about Crist.

Cross posted at Not One Red Cent.

New Executive Order: Council Of State Governors?

Via the Liberty Papers.

This is interesting. Council of ten Governors. Nominated by the President. Five from each party. I can only guess that someone like Charlie Crist of Florida will make the cut while Rich Perry of Texas won't on the Republican side.

EXECUTIVE ORDER
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS

By the authority vested in me as President by theConstitution and the laws of the United States of America,including section 1822 of the National Defense AuthorizationAct of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthenfurther the partnership between the Federal Government and Stategovernments to protect our Nation and its people and property,it is hereby ordered as follows:
 

Section 1. Council of Governors.
 

(a)  There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political party. The term of service for each Member appointed to serve on the Council shall be 2 years, but a Membermay be reappointed for additional terms.
 

(b)  The President shall designate two Members, whoshall not be members of the same political party, to serve asCo-Chairs of the Council.
Sec. 2. Functions. The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council toexchange views, information, or advice with the Secretary ofDefense; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant tothe President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; theAssistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs andPublic Engagement; the Assistant Secretary of Defense forHomeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs; the Commander,United States Northern Command; the Chief, National GuardBureau; the Commandant of the Coast Guard; and other appropriateofficials of the Department of Homeland Security and theDepartment of Defense, and appropriate officials of otherexecutive departments or agencies as may be designated by theSecretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security.Such views, information, or advice shall concern:
 

(a)  matters involving the National Guard of the variousStates;
(b)  homeland defense;
(c)  civil support;
(d) synchronization and integration of State and Federalmilitary activities in the United States; and
(e) other matters of mutual interest pertaining toNational Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities

And there's more (PDF file).

Scott Brown Money Bomb Today. UPDATED

UPDATE @ 12:20 AM: Not bad. Not bad at all for his original goal of $500,000.

Thank you! $1,303,302.50 raised!

UPDATE @ 9:46 PM: He hit the one million mark and then some. $1,012,059.94.

UPDATE @ 8:01 PM: $878,541.84 .

I leave the house for a while and am catching up on the tail end of this.

$836,625.26 so far.

I'm cherishing the thought that potentially a republican will be filling the sizable seat left by Teddy Kennedy.

H/T Ace.

Critical Endorsement For Scott Brown

From the State Police Association of Massachusetts.

Martha Coakley may be the state’s attorney general, but her Senate rival is vying to match her law-and-order credentials.

Republican Scott Brown was scheduled Monday to receive the endorsement of the State Police Association of Massachusetts.

It represents rank-and-file troopers.

Association President Richard Brown says "the terrorist threat in this country is real and Scott Brown will always come down on the side of protecting our nation."

If I'm not mistaken, the attorney general is the state's chief law enforcement officer. That's gotta sting.

Look What Went Live Last Night

The Daily Caller is up and running.

Looks nice and easy to navigate. Hopefully, it will rival the Huffington Post without the need to appeal to the crowd who enjoys watching a Walrus masturbate.

The Real World: DC

Via Reason TV.



Be sure to click over and see their TSA video as well. TSA: Where we micromanage the small things so we won't have to worry about the larger things.

Carmina Burana

Posting it because it's so freaking awesome.

The Fix Is In With Health Care

Via Dan Rielh.

If Scott Brown wins the Senate Special Election, he would be the 41 vote for the Republicans to help filibuster the Health Care Bill. But he would need to be sworn into the Senate first. That might be an issue.

[I]f Brown wins, the entire national health-care reform debate may hinge on when he takes over as senator. Brown has vowed to be the crucial 41st vote in the Senate that would block the bill.

The U.S. Senate ultimately will schedule the swearing-in of Kirk’s successor, but not until the state certifies the election.

It might not be legal and it's sure as hell immoral and unethical. But it's how it's going to go down.

Happy Birthday Elvis

I never thought much of Elvis when I was a punk kid growing up. It wasn't until I heard this song driving home on the radio where I really listened to his performance. It was then I gathered a new perspective for his songs and him as an artist. He really was deserving of the title, 'The King'.



Anyway, I went over to see what Google had up for their logo. If they did a specialized logo for The King. Why not? They did one for Jackson Pollock's birthday.

Nothing.

If this doesn't prove that the guys who run it are commies, I don't know what will.

Democrats Dropping Like Flies

Sen. Chris Dodd and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter are quitting at the end of their terms. I missed it on here but Sen. Byron Dorgan, ND is quitting as well.

In Michigan, thanks to term limits, Jennifer Granholm can't run for re-election but usually the Lt. Governor usually ends up running for the top spot on the ticket. The current Lt. Gov.-- John Cherry-- is dropping out. Some of the speculation is that the current Mayor of Lansing will be stepping in.

Virg Bernero left (and I do mean left). John Cherry right (coincidence only).

For some reason, Cherry can't excite enough people to raise campaign funds.

And this in Baltimore. Mayor Sheila Dixon is stepping down immediately due to a bad case of indigestion and an embezzlement conviction. But mostly her embezzlement conviction. But you wouldn't know she's a democrat from reading the report.