Public Secrets

Last post on Sarah Palin

For now, at any rate.

I said before that Sarah's statement announcing her resignation seemed nonsensical in several parts. Apparently it was written at the last minute and thus was not the statement it needed to be: her best, clear and concise, not rambling and illogical.

Yesterday, however, she posted a note to her Facebook page that not only is more of what I expected, it also dropped a broad hint that she is not withdrawing from the national stage, just "attacking in another direction," as Marine General Oliver P. Smith once said. I post it here without further comment:

On this Independence Day, I am so very proud of all those who have chosen to serve our great nation and I honor their selflessness and the sacrifices of their families, too.

If I may, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours and share my thoughts with you.

First, I want to thank you for your support and hard work on the values we share. Those values led me to the decision my family and I made. Yesterday, my family and I announced a decision that is in Alaska’s best interest and it always feels good to do what is right. We have accomplished more during this one term than most governors do in two – and I am proud of the great team that helped to build these wonderful successes. Energy independence and national security, fiscal restraint, smaller government, and local control have been my priorities and will remain my priorities.

For months now, I have consulted with friends and family, and with the Lieutenant Governor, about what is best for our wonderful state. I even made a few administrative changes over that course in time in preparation for yesterday. We have accomplished so much and there’s much more to do, but my family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most. And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier – I’ve never been one to waste time or resources. Those who know me know this is the right decision and obvious decision at that, including Senator John McCain. I thank him for his kind, insightful comments.

The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the “politics of personal destruction”. How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country. And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.

I shared with you yesterday my heartfelt and candid reasons for this change; I’ve never thought I needed a title before one’s name to forge progress in America. I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!

God bless you! And I look forward to making a difference – with you!

Sarah

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, Alaska, resignation, statement

More Sarah Palin

Never a bad thing, in my opinion.

Here's a list of interesting items I've seen this morning:

In the New York Post, Bill Quick says "Run, Sarah, Run" and offers a list of five things she should do after leaving office to lay the groundwork for 2012 or 2016.

In an earlier post, I had referenced an article that reported rumors that Sarah Palin was soon to be investigated for a Ted Stevens-like scandal. The LA Times reports on a statement from the FBI that there is no truth to that rumor. Mel at Conservatives for Palin tracks these rumors back to anti-Palin bloggers in Alaska, which were then picked up unquestioningly by national bloggers and the mainstream media.

Patterico reports that the Governor's legal counsel has made noises about defamation actions against both MSM outlets and the bloggers that continue to spread this story, now that the FBI has debunked it. (The full statement is here, in PDF) On the one hand, our modern society has taken the notion of "being above it all" to mean that public figures should never defend themselves against even the most outrageous and damaging lies. We go so far as to blame the victim for hitting back. On the other hand, shouldn't even the newsworthy have the right to defend their reputations in court? It seems to me we've gone too far in the former direction. (More at Gateway Pundit)

Matthew Continetti at The Weekly Standard reminds us that "she is a lot of things ... but NOT stupid..." His colleague Bill Kristol offers opinions from two more contrarians. ("Contrary" in this case meaning the belief that she wasn't stupid to resign.)

William Jacobson compares Governor Palin's move to then-Senator Barack Obama running for president after less than two years in the Senate and asks "Is Palin a quitter or a climber?" Conservative blogger Ed Morrissey says she's a quitter; like Jacobson, I don't know. And I suspect we won't until several months and even years have gone by.

Finally, Kurt Schlichter at Big Hollywood draws his light-saber and says "the Force is with Sarah Palin:"

Not to go an analogy too far, but Sarah Palin seems to be taking a page from the Hollywood playbook of George Lucas.  She has just completed her own introductory trilogy, and it was an astonishing success. 

First, she was a fantastically successful conservative governor lurking beneath the mainstream media’s radar.  Next, she was a vice-presidential candidate who, even though she lost, still did more to electrify the base than the headliner.  Third, she has now drawn the curtain on her post-election career as a sitting governor, a period that saw her deftly turn the tables on mainstream haters like David Letterman.   Like “Star Wars,” she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but her fans are rabid and chomping at the bit for the next installments.  And as to these future installments, the question is whether the next step is going to be “The Phantom Menace” or something that doesn’t suck.

Good question.

 

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, resignation, defamation, rumors

Because nothing says "tastes great" like ISO 9001!

After a tough day having your soul raped building the future in a hell-hole and gulag worker's paradise like North Korea, it's comforting to know you can end it with a frosty People's Brewski that meets ISO standards. Down with these capitalist-running dog beers that merely taste great!

In other words, behold a North Korean beer commercial:

Via Fausta, who adds:

Because nothing in a beer ad says “refreshing” like chemists in labs, assembly lines, antiquated buildings, and North Korean Communist party officials

Indeed. Drink up, lads!  

 

Technorati tags: North Korea, beer, commercials, ISO 9001

So, why'd she do it?

I still don't have a satisfying answer for why Governor Palin resigned, and Tito's magic 8-ball is on the fritz, but I've read some interesting speculations this morning -some more believable than others- that I thought I'd pass along:

• Max Blumenthal: Getting out ahead of a scandal? Reliant on rumors and unsourced rumors from "Alaska political circles" (Where she's always had enemies), this is my candidate for "least credible."
• William Jacobson: It has always been about Trig. There's no doubt that the Left's obsession with her toddler has revealed something vile in our politics, and I wouldn't blame a mother for saying "I'm taking your target away."
• Mark Steyn: An ordinary citizen cuts bait. The "I've had enough" reason. After what we've witnessed, I could believe that.

Both of the latter beg the question of "Why not finish her term and then retire," while the first provides a possible answer, but one I hope is baseless.

Meanwhile, Victor Davis Hanson says it's not about why she did it, but what she does with her new free time:

In the long run, she can lecture, earn a good income through speaking, develop a coterie of advisers and supporters, take care of her family, not have the constant political warring on all flanks, and invest time in reflecting and studying issues, visit the country, meet leaders, etc. She's not looking at 2012; but in eight years by 2016 she will be far more savvy, still young, and far more experienced. It matters not all that the Left writes her off as daffy, since they were going to do that whatever she did; the key is whether she convinces conservatives in eight year of travel and reflection that she's a  charismatic Margaret Thatcher type heavyweight.

We'll see. I'd love to see her come back refreshed and ready to run in 2016. I still think she offers what the country needs and that, more than any other likely candidate, she stands for the common person - the ordinary barbarian, as some put it. Some have compared her to Ronald Reagan, and Palin herself often quotes the late President, but I think the fairer comparison is to Harry Truman - not the Hollywood star, but the Missouri haberdasher: tough, scrappy, full of common sense. The Wise wrote off Truman in 1948, and we know how that turned out.

So, to answer the question in the subject line:

It's about the future, now.

LINKS: Sister Toldjah reflects on the morning after. Rich Noyes on 10 months of media scorn (via ST). Adam Brickley looks at internal Alaska politics and thinks she's extended her influence. Slublog doesn't believe she'll be back and says our loss is her gain. On the other hand, Mark Levin thinks she's running:

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, speculation, resignation, Trig Palin

Out of left field

To say I'm surprised and disappointed at the resignation of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is an understatement by an order of magnitude. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. Anyone who knows me or looks in the archives of this blog knows that I became a great fan of Sarah Palin and looked forward to seeing her inaugurated as President of the United States in 2013.

It's almost impossible to believe anything other than that this announcement is a self-inflicted, below-the-waterline torpedo hit to any presidential aspirations she had in 2012 - or beyond. I'd like to think otherwise, but it's hard not to see this as political suicide. The question is, why'd she do it?

I don't know.

To be honest, many of the reasons she gave in her address seem, well, nonsensical. Didn't want to be a lame-duck? Huh? You're not a lame-duck if you run for reelection and, besides, her current term wouldn't end until 2011, even if she were defeated or chose not to run. Resigning now to avoid being a lame-duck is just a lame reason. If that were logical, shouldn't every president have resigned to make way for his successor?

The legal bills she and her family racked up defending her against ludicrous ethics complaints? A single fundraising drive and conservatives around the country would have been happy to contribute to retire her debt. In fact, the blog Conservatives for Palin did just that, raising over $100,000 for her with minimal advertising. A national campaign with direct mailing would have cleared the debt easily. As for the money Alaska was spending to deal with the charges? That's part of the state's job: to handle these kinds of complaints. If there's a fault in Alaska's ethics laws that allows someone like Celtic Diva to become an abusive complainant, then the law should be amended to discourage nuisance filings. By giving this for a reason, Sarah has said that any elected official who becomes a lightning rod should resign to spare the state the expense.

Nonsense.

And then there's there question of what this tells her supporters in Alaska and the other 49* states. As Ed Morrissey puts it, leaders don't quit. And the people of Alaska elected her to serve a four-year term. It's one thing to run for reelection with the idea of running for president in the next cycle; lots of governors have done that and been open about it. And it's fine to say "I'm not running for reelection because I plan to run at a national level, and I want to be fair to my state." Many (including me) would respect her for that. But to quit in midterm? Isn't there an obligation to finish the job owed to those who agreed to vote for you?

No one who has any sense (or any sense of decency), can doubt that Sarah was subjected to a level of savage attacks from the media and operatives in both parties that, as far as I can recall, is unprecedented in the modern era - especially for someone who only ran for vice-president. The attacks on her children have been particularly vile. It's a sign of the deep sickness in our political system. I wouldn't blame a political figure for refusing to move to the national level and declining to run for reelection after that, but to quit early?

It may be, as some such as William Kristol have said, that she is taking a shrewd gamble to clear the decks for a national run. Perhaps, and it may be that she'll rise from this even faster than Nixon rose from his defeats in 1960 and 1962. Maybe. I've said for months that she's just the kind of person -the character, the common sense, the ethics- I want to see in office. But this bizarre move has thrown all sorts of question marks into the mix.

And I want a better explanation than I read today.

*(56, if you're President Obama)

LINKS: Tim Lindell on Sarah crossing the Rubicon; Quin Hillyer - "dereliction of duty;" Sister Toldjah; Jim Geraghty; The Anchoress has lots of links and wonders if there isn't something else behind this. As do I.

 

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, bombshells, resignation

The biggest tax increase in history

That's what this ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee is saying about the Waxman-Markey "cap and trade" bill, and they're right. And they're using the Democrats' own words to make the point. Tito? Roll tape! (No, really. We can afford the electricity. For now...)

Progressive Democrats and "carbon speculators" see big bucks in this , while the rest of us, especially the poor and middle classes, will just see our money vanish.

Waxman-Markey is a disaster in the making, and only the Senate now stands in its way. Call your senators' office and tell them to vote "no" on this insanity.

LINKS: More from Ed Morrissey and Blue Crab Boulevard.

 

Technorati tags: Waxman-Markey, NRCC, cap and trade, junk science, climate change, carbon trading

Leaving Babylon

I wrote here about Iraq taking security control of its cities while American forces withdraw to rural bases and how it signaled victory for us and the Iraqis. Ralph Peters also writes on the significance of the moment, but he says it much more eloquently than I. Here's a sample:

There is evil in the world. No matter how resistant Obama may be to learning that basic lesson, our enemies will hammer it into him.

As our troops leave Iraq's cities today, their commanders know that still more bloody trials lie ahead. Now and then, the Iraqis will "shoot the red star cluster," calling for our help. But today isn't just a day for Iraqis to celebrate -- it's a good day for us, too.

And it's a day of vindication for a former president who saw clearly, but spoke poorly (to the delighted mortification of the media).

Now we have a president who expresses himself beautifully, but seems blind to international reality. And it's up to him to determine whether Iraq was a new beginning or a dead end.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

I am a traitor to the planet!

Sounds cool doesn't it, the kind of thing a supervillain would say as he reveals his dastardly plot and promises to destroy us all? With obligatory maniacal laughter, of course.

Sadly, the truth isn't nearly so cool: I don't get a bizarre spandex outfit, I don't have a hidden Evil Headquarters, and I don't have Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy hanging off my arms. (Dang!) Instead, according to the New York Times' Paul Krugman, I have betrayed Mother Earth and her High Priest Al Gore because I, along with the 212 member of the House of Representatives with some sense left, opposed the Waxman-Markey global warming cap-and-tax bill:

So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.

But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.

And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason — treason against the planet.

Krugman, himself a model of mendacity, then goes on to cite supposed evidence that damns global warming skeptics (who, by the way, are deserving of show trials for their heresy) as immoral and irresponsible. Let's look at one in particular:

The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking,...

Um, no, actually, they're not. According to corrected data from Nansen, the sea-ice extent for April and May of this year at the North Pole was nearly normal. For some historical perspective on polar ice variations, Watts Up With That has a great article you should read - and so should Captain Hysteria Paul Krugman.

(By the way, the Antarctic ice shelves show no sign of climate change, either.)

The rest of the article is filled with similar alarmist hyperbole masquerading as facts, all meant to scare the public into demanding something be done NOW!, before it's too late - even if the evidence doesn't justify it. (Cultists of the High Church of Anthropogenic Global Warming like to say the scientific consensus is settled, but the truth is far different.) I haven't the time to deconstruct all Krugman's rantings, but I can recommend the following sites as good places to follow for hard looks at the "science" of global warming:

• Watts Up With That? (My go-to site)
• Heliogenic Climate Change
• CO2 Science
• Climate Audit

Krugman's article is typical of the left-liberal, statist mindset: government is the only vehicle for fairly allocating resources, so we need a problem so vast, so imminent, and so threatening that it justifies a massive government intervention in the economy and our private lives. And if skeptics should point out inconvenient truths, well, they're just traitors, all of them.

Dr. Johnson once said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. These days, he might have included environmentalism, too.

LINKS: Fellow traitor Tom Maguire tugs on Captain Hysteria's cape. Sister Toldjah is a traitor, too. In fact, 41% of the country are traitors. Treason! Treason against Holy Gaea everywhere!

Technorati tags: Paul Krugman, Waxman-Markey, climate change, global warming, junk science, hysteria, sea ice, environmentalism

Congratulations Iraq

Today is tomorrow in Iraq, Tuesday, the 30th of June, which has been declared a national holiday because it is the day the United States formally hands over responsibility for the security of all Iraqi cities to the Iraqi government and security forces:

Iraqi forces officially assumed control of Baghdad and other cites across the country early Tuesday, following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas. Celebrations in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, include music, dance and poetry.

Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the U.S. military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th.

Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces.

The government declared a "Day of National Sovereignty" to mark the event, and has invited ordinary citizens to join evening celebrations at Baghdad's Zawra Park for a festival of music and poetry.

Interior Minister Jawad Boulani told journalists the U.S. withdrawal is almost complete and Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining order across the country.

As I recall, Diyala and Diwania were scenes of heavy fighting from 2005-2007, yet now they're gearing up for concerts and a poetry festival. I'd call that a win, wouldn't you, Senator Reid?

Minister Boulani expressed the opinion that Iraqi forces are now up to maintaining internal security. I hope he's right. There's been a disturbing rise in violence as the Americans began to pull back, including pogroms against homosexuals and Christians, not to mention a rise in bombings in Baghdad and Kirkuk. Clearly the coming months and years will be a test for the Iraqi government and security forces to see if they can not only guarantee public order, but equally to all Iraqis.

I have confidence in Iraq and the Iraqis, however. Since liberation in 2003, they've faced incredibly difficult circumstances and always come through: I still marvel at the success of the elections of 2005 and forest of purple fingers raised in pride. They've written a constitution (and stuck to it), and they're adapting to the freewheeling style of democratic parliamentary politics. Sure, there have been frustrating setbacks and delays, but with each success Iraq takes another step toward becoming the first real democracy in the Arab world, and example that could revolutionize the region -- and perhaps the power of this example is already being felt in neighboring Iran.

I hope somewhere former President Bush is taking satisfaction in this moment; he earned it, and I hope Iraqis tomorrow remember to toast him with a raised glass of sweet tea. Without his decision to invade and overthrow Saddam Hussein in the first place and then to risk everything on the success of the surge in 2007, we wouldn't be at this moment, and Iraq would likely still be a Hell-hole.

But it isn't, and that's a reason to celebrate.

LINKS: More at Hot Air, Sister Toldjah.

Technorati tags: Iraq, National Sovereignty Day, Jawad Boulani, George W. Bush, Diyala, Diwaniyah, celebrations

Congratulations Iraq

Today is tomorrow in Iraq, Tuesday, the 30th of June, which has been declared a national holiday because it is the day the United States formally hands over responsibility for the security of all Iraqi cities to the Iraqi government and security forces:

Iraqi forces officially assumed control of Baghdad and other cites across the country early Tuesday, following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas. Celebrations in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, include music, dance and poetry.

Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the U.S. military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th.

Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces.

The government declared a "Day of National Sovereignty" to mark the event, and has invited ordinary citizens to join evening celebrations at Baghdad's Zawra Park for a festival of music and poetry.

Interior Minister Jawad Boulani told journalists the U.S. withdrawal is almost complete and Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining order across the country.

As I recall, Diyala and Diwania were scenes of heavy fighting from 2005-2007, yet now they're gearing up for concerts and a poetry festival. I'd call that a win, wouldn't you, Senator Reid?

Minister Boulani expressed the opinion that Iraqi forces are now up to maintaining internal security. I hope he's right. There's been a disturbing rise in violence as the Americans began to pull back, including pogroms against homosexuals and Christians, not to mention a rise in bombings in Baghdad and Kirkuk. Clearly the coming months and years will be a test for the Iraqi government and security forces to see if they can not only guarantee public order, but equally to all Iraqis.

I have confidence in Iraq and the Iraqis, however. Since liberation in 2003, they've faced incredibly difficult circumstances and always come through: I still marvel at the success of the elections of 2005 and forest of purple fingers raised in pride. They've written a constitution (and stuck to it), and they're adapting to the freewheeling style of democratic parliamentary politics. Sure, there have been frustrating setbacks and delays, but with each success Iraq takes another step toward becoming the first real democracy in the Arab world, and example that could revolutionize the region -- and perhaps the power of this example is already being felt in neighboring Iran.

I hope somewhere former President Bush is taking satisfaction in this moment; he earned it, and I hope Iraqis tomorrow remember to toast him with a raised glass of sweet tea. Without his decision to invade and overthrow Saddam Hussein in the first place and then to risk everything on the success of the surge in 2007, we wouldn't be at this moment, and Iraq would likely still be a Hell-hole.

But it isn't, and that's a reason to celebrate.

LINKS: More at Hot Air.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, National Sovereignty Day, Jawd Boulani, George W. Bush, Diyala, Diwaniyah, celebrations

Coup in Honduras, and our flaccid foreign policy

This morning the Honduran military arrested the country's president and sent him into exile in Costa Rica. While most reports are describing this as a coup d'etat, Honduras' largest newspaper, La Prensa, claims that President Zelaya was removed from office under order from the country's Supreme Court:

An official statement of the Supreme Court of Justice explained that the Armed Forces acted under lawful grounds when detaining the President of the Republic, and by decommissioning the materials to be used on the illegal poll which aimed to bring forth Executive Power against a judicial order.

Other sources verified that the president of the Congress, Roberto Micheletti, will assume the presidency of the republic in a few hours.
…
Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was detained this morning by the military in compliance with an order of the courts of law.

(translation by Fausta Wertz)

The most up-to-date coverage can be found in this post by Fausta, and I refer the reader there. Plenty of good links to follow.

My concern is with the United States' response:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. diplomats are working to ensure the safety of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his family as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency.

President Barack Obama called Sunday for "all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter" as the Central American crisis unfolded.

For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, U.S. officials said.

Secretary of State Clinton also jumped in:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the action taken against Honduras' president should be condemned by everyone.

She says Honduras must embrace the principles of democracy and respect constitutional order.

Two things I'll point out about this:

First, how is it that it took days for the Administration to strongly condemn the theft of an election and subsequent massacres in Iran, yet the removal at the request of the legally constituted courts and legislature of a president allied to one of our enemies and who was trying to emulate his ally by becoming  populist dictator is worthy of immediate condemnation? Why do President Barack Obama and his State Department seemingly coddle dictators while giving constitutionalists the cold shoulder?

Second, do the Administration and State know the situation in Honduras? Even cursory research indicates a situation more complicated than it first appears. Zelaya is allied to Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, the former a current enemy of us and the latter an old foe. He was violating the constitution and defying a court order by trying to hold a referendum seeking approval for extending his term, something prohibited by the constitution. Latin American constitutions often give the military the role of "defender of the constitution" (add irony as needed), and it's quite possible, given the support and direction provided by the legislature and the court, that the military acted not to sieze power, but to prevent a seizure of power by the president. In other words, it may have been an act in defense of constitutional order and the rule of law. It may also not have been, but we should be aware of the subtleties here.

Is Washington aware of this? Did they consult with the embassy in Tegucigalpa before rushing to the microphones? (Again, if they could wait for days on Iran because they didn't want to meddle, why the rush to meddle now?) Somehow I doubt it. Both statements look like variations on boilerplate used by the government for decades.

It's been argued that Obama is simply more comfortable with, and therefore more solicitous toward, anti-American dictators than with genuine democrats, which explains his various moves. His background makes him open to thuggery. Perhaps, but it's also possible that what we're seeing are the spastic reactions of a foreign policy tyro, a naif who really doesn't know what he's doing, being far more interested in domestic affairs and having only the most superficial knowledge of the world beyond our borders. Both are possible, and both are in their way very disquieting.

LINKS: Ed Morrissey thinks this is another indication Obama's priorities are out of step with the rule of law.

Quote of the day

From journalist David Freddoso:

Global Warming is apparently so urgent that we can't even wait until members of Congress know what they're voting on.

Technorati tags: cap and trade, Waxman-Markey, junk science, climate change, global warming

Our next commander in chief

Governor Sarah Palin addresses Alaska National Guard troops in Kosovo and takes a humorous shot at John Kerry:

Afterwards, she plans to visit wounded soldiers in Germany. You may recall that Candidate Obama canceled out on a similar visit during his European victory tour last summer - and then gave a lame excuse for it.

If 2012 is Obama vs Palin, I think I know who will win the military vote...

(hat tip: Conservatives for Palin)

 

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, travels, Kosovo

Journalism is dead

This morning I went to a local campus eatery to get breakfast, and there on the big-screen TV was CNN. With the Democratic majority in the House trying desperately to pass the worst legislation since Smoot-Hawley, the Waxman-Markey "cap and trade" bill, to what is this giant of cable new devoting wall-to-wall coverage?

The death of pop icon and pedophile Michael Jackson.

I weep.

The economy's still breathing ... better shoot it again!

So, we're in the worst recession in 30 years, the economy is shedding jobs like a dog sheds fur in summer, and Congress is writing a "climate change" bill that will impose huge effective taxes on the American public and do tremendous damage to our economy while having no effect on supposed global warming. Is that bad enough for you?

But wait! There's more!

On top of all that, the Democratic geniuses in the Houses have added provisions to force the President to impose tariffs on countries that refuse to take measure to lower their so-called greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, in the midst of a recession, the authors of the Waxman-Markey bill want to start a trade war:

"A House committee working on sweeping energy legislation seems determined to make sure that the United States will tax China and other carbon polluters, potentially disrupting an already-sensitive climate change debate in Congress.

The Ways and Means Committee's proposed bill language would virtually require that the president impose an import tariff on any country that fails to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions.

Directed primarily at China, the United States' biggest manufacturing competitor, the provisions aim to protect cement, steel and other energy-intensive industries that expect to face higher costs under a federal emissions cap. But associations that represent importers and multinational corporations are raising red flags, warning that the language could lead to trade wars, hurt the United States' ability to export low-carbon technology and harm consumers. ...

You bet it will. The last thing you want in a recession is anything that hampers the flow of job-creating trade; it's an absolute lock that any nation targeted by the tariffs would retaliate against our own goods and services. And don't forget that this would come in addition to the job-killing increases to the costs of production (and therefore consumer prices) created by Waxman-Markey in the first place.

The only question left is whether the progressive wing of the Democratic party is malicious, or just plain stupid.

 

Technorati tags: Waxman-Markey, climate change, junk science, tariffs, trade war, global warming

Global warming marches on

The temperature in the Arctic still hasn't gone above zero degrees centigrade this year, the latest that's happened in 50 years. And Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost city, has reported the coldest June in 150 years.

But please ignore these inconvenient truths, for the scientific consensus is settled. Amen. 

The new Tiananmen Square

From ThreatsWatch.org. The massacre has begun:

This is the Iranian regime, wading into its own unarmed people and axing them to death, bludgeoning women (seen as the greatest threat to the regime) and throwing them to their deaths from pedestrian bridges. The same Iranian regime whose embassy officials are invited to American embassies around the world to celebrate on July 4th, of all things, a successful revolution.

Fair warning, there are graphic images of the dead in that post.

And these are the monsters our president invited to celebrate the Fourth of July with us. The invitation has since -finally!- been rescinded, but it should never have been issued. The incredible naivete of American administrations in dealing with Iran - this one in particular, but the delusion has been bipartisan - has been exposed for the foolishness it is. The rats who take axes to unarmed women have no interest in "engagement." And these are the same "men" who want nuclear weapons.

The only engagement we should have with them is the business end of a Hellfire missile.

Rot in Hell, you bastards.

LINKS: Blue Crab Boulevard.

They catch on

It seems to have finally dawned on the administration that inviting the representatives of a fascist theocracy that hates everything we stand for to celebrate the 4th of July with us is probably a Dumb Idea(tm).

We are lead by geniuses.

Ru-dy! Ru-dy!

Gee, do you think Rudy Giuliani is seriously eying a run for governor of New York? 

With Governor Paterson's ratings in the tank, the seat may just be Rudy's for the taking.

Connect the dots

Michelle Malkin writes today about the men behind the curtain of the grassroots movement toward socialized medicine:

If you believe the White House, there are 30 million Americans who support a government health care takeover. But if you look at the funding behind the Obamacare Astroturf campaign, it’s the same few Leftist billionaires, union bosses, and partisan community organizers pushing the socialized medicine agenda. Let’s connect the dots.

On Thursday, a national “grass-roots” coalition called “Health Care for America Now (HCAN)” will march on Capitol Hill to demand universal health care. The ground troops won’t have to march very far. HCAN, you see, is no heartland network. It is headquartered at 1825 K Street in Washington, D.C. – smack dab in the middle of Beltway lobby land.

Do read the whole thing. There are plenty of links to follow and, in the upcoming fight over health care, it's important to bear in mind Cicero's famous question: cui bono?

Oops, there goes another Inspector-General...

This time it's the sudden, unexplained resignation of Fred Wiederhold, the Inspector-General of Amtrak. The same Amtrak that's supposed to receive $1.3 billion in pork-barrel stimulus money, the same Amtrak on the board of which sits Hunter Biden, the son of the Vice-President, and the same Amtrak whose general counsel is a big Democratic donor.

That makes three IGs in three weeks.

Methinks I smell a RAT.

(hat tip: Instapundit.)

UPDATE: Byron York has more on the real reasons for firing the supposedly senile Inspector-General of AmeriCorps.

What's wrong with this picture?

The United States Department of Justice is looking for volunteers from among its staff to man a booth at the national convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) over the July 4th weekend. What's wrong with this, you ask?

ISNA is a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is dedicated to the destruction of Western civilization and the imposition of shariah law in the United States. It is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial that found five men guilty on 108 counts of illegally transferring money to the terrorist group Hamas.

Jennifer Rubin of Pajamas Media broke this story this morning and has the details:

This is not the first time ISNA and the Justice Department have gotten into the news. In 2007, similar conduct by the Justice Department drew the attention of Sen. Tom Coburn. IPT reported:

• In 2007, Coburn pushed an amendment to the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill which barred DOJ from underwriting any conferences with organizations identified “as an unindicted co-conspirator by the federal government in any criminal prosecution.” The Senate passed the provision but when the Senate and House of Representatives met to create one final bill, it was taken out.

The Washington Times reported in October 2007:

• In a letter to then-Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Reps. Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Republican and ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sue Myrick, North Carolina Republican, called the Justice Department’s involvement [with ISNA] a “grave mistake.”
• “In light of the threat that our nation … is currently facing from radical jihadists, and because of the president’s commitment to fighting the war on terror on all fronts, we believe it is a grave mistake to provide legitimacy to an organization with extremist origins, leadership and a radical agenda,” the lawmakers said.

One has to ask: In a time when we are at war with jihadists who seek our submission and even our destruction, why is a department responsible for our internal security engaging in "outreach" to a group that is nothing but a blind for a  key group allied to the jihadists? The Muslim Brotherhood itself may not engage in violent jihad in Western countries, but it uses groups such as ISNA to pursue the same goals as the violent jihadists through quiet means. Their differences with al Qaeda are over tactics and strategy, not goals. Having the Justice Department buy a booth at ISNA's convention is like FDR's Justice Department doing the same at a meeting of the German-American Bund.

What's next, an exchange program between US high schools and Pakistani madrassahs, sponsored by the Department of al-Education in the name of "multicultural understanding?" Maybe they could invite them over for hot dogs, too.

LINKS: The Investigative Project on Terrorism's copy of the Muslim Brotherhood strategy memo that exposes ISNA and other front groups is here (PDF). The English version begins on page 16.

 

Technorati tags: Justice Department, Islamic Society of North America, ISNA, useful idiots, conventions, outreach, Muslim Brotherhood, stealth jihad

Stark contrast

President Barack Obama on Iran in 2009 and President Ronald Reagan on Poland in 1981:

The Metrosexual vs. El Machaso. No contest.

 

Technorati tags: Ronald Reagan, Iran, Poland, Barack Obama

I'm speechless

The Iranian regime's goons are gunning people down in the streets, but their diplomats are still welcome at the White House 4th of July party to share hot dogs with President Obama.

Allahpundit puts it best: Absolutely the lowest moment of his presidency thus far.

 

Technorati tags: 4th of July, decency, Neda Agha Soltan, shame

Quote of the Day

Andy McCarthy in Understanding Obama on Iran:

The fact is that, as a man of the hard Left, Obama is more comfortable with a totalitarian Islamic regime than he would be with a free Iranian society. In this he is no different from his allies like the Congressional Black Caucus and Bill Ayers, who have shown themselves perfectly comfortable with Castro and Chàvez.  Indeed, he is the product of a hard-Left tradition that apologized for Stalin and was more comfortable with the Soviets than the anti-Communists (and that, in Soros parlance, saw George Bush as a bigger terrorist than bin Laden).

Ouch. Truth hurts.

What's frustrating is that none of this was hidden from view - the information about Obama's background and ideology was there for anyone who wanted to investigate. But the mainstream media, who should have been all over this during the campaign, instead chose to dig deeply into "real" issues, such as Sarah Palin's tanning bed. They became a marketing arm of the Obama campaign, willingly selling-out their duty to inform the public.

And thus enabling the success of a candidate who, as President, willingly sells out the people of Iran.

 

Technorati tags: Andrew McCarthy, Congressional Black Caucus, William Ayers, Left, media bias