Propping Up The Dead

In a more barbaric portion of our nation's past, it was not uncommon to prop up the bodies of the newsworthy dead to take pictures with them. It is a vile act still practiced by some crude thugs in one particularly callous and self-serving sect. You know them as the Democrats.

Whether tripping over each other to use caskets as a lectern at the funerals of a Wellstone or a Kennedy, there is never a moment too solemn for liberals to soil if the slightest political opportunity presents itself.

Our odious President Barack Obama is as feckless and sociopathic as his political brethren, and carted up a helicopter full of photographers and journalists to take to Dover Air Force Base. He wanted to use the bodies of those who died in Afghanistan as a photo op, in a move so blatantly calculated that even the New York Times was forced to comment on it.

A small contingent of reporters and photographers accompanied Mr. Obama to Dover, where he arrived at 12:34 a.m. aboard Marine One. He returned to the South Lawn of the White House at 4:45 a.m.

<…>

The images and the sentiment of the president's five-hour trip to Delaware were intended by the White House to convey to the nation that Mr. Obama was not making his Afghanistan decision lightly or in haste.

Predictably, the Times edited away the offending truth, but no before it was already documented.

Only one family of 18 would allow Obama his cheap theatrics. 14 suffered through a meeting with the President and his surrounding entourage during what should have been a solemn moment of reclamation. Four families, apparently, were able to escape the White House-orchestrated circus entirely.

But liberals rotted to the core and rooted in the past instinctively returned to their traditional primal howl, with something called a Blue Texan at firedoglake using Obama's irreverent, calculated photo op to attack—who else?—George Bush.

At Blackfive, a real American, a soldier who understands the solemnity of service and loss, explains to the jackals:

Turning a solemn occasion into a photo op that becomes about you is not respectful, it is sorry. President Bush knew that and chose to show his respect in private to the people who really matter, the Gold Star families.

President Bush met with families individually and in groups, crying with them, praying with them, often with tears streaming down his cheeks. Those moments were private and respectful.

The left wants the bodies of the fallen stacked into a podium, cameras flashing, reporters intruding upon the dead and grieving so that they can project a false sincerity.

We're forced to ask: if the 18th family had refused to have their son's casket photographed, would Obama have shown up at all?

Sadly, I suspect we all know the answer.

Update: Like most liberals, Blue Texan can't understand why Obama's photo-op the other night in Dover was so loathsome.

Her sophomoric response an attempts to invokes a version of the "your guy did it too!" defense, trying to hide Obama's craven cynicism behind President Reagan's 1983 visit to Andrews Air Force Base to meet the bodies of Americans killed in a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

Context, of course, is paramount.

Reagan's visit—as a transcript of the radio address Blue Texan cited attests—was part of the government response to a significant terror attack directed at one of our embassies. Reagan's purpose was to unite American resolve in support of freedom and liberty:

More than ever, we're committed to giving the people of Lebanon the chance they deserve to lead normal lives, free from violence and free from the presence of all unwanted foreign forces on their soil. And we remain committed to the Lebanese Government's recovery of full sovereignty throughout all its territory.

<...>

The scenes of senseless tragedy in Beirut this week will remain etched in our memories forever. But along with the tragedy, there were inspiring moments of heroism. We will not forget the pictures of Ambassador Dillon and his staff, Lebanese as well as Americans, many of them swathed in bandages, bravely searching the devastated embassy for their colleagues and for other innocent victims.

We will not forget the image of young marines gently draping our nation's flag over the broken body of one of their fallen comrades. We will not forget their courage and compassion, and we will not forget their willingness to sacrifice even their lives for the service of their country and the cause of peace.

Yes, we Americans can be proud of these fine men and women. And we can be even prouder that our country has been playing such a unique and indispensable role in the Middle East, a role no other single nation could play. When the countries of the region want help in bringing peace, we're the ones they've turned to. That's because they trust us, because they know that America is both strong and just, both decent and dedicated. Even in the shadow of this terrible tragedy in Beirut, that is something to remember and draw heart from. It is also something to be true to.

I know I speak for all Americans when I reaffirm our unshakeable commitment to our country's most precious heritage—serving the cause of peace and freedom in the world. What better monument than that could we build for those who gave their all that others might live in peace.

President Reagan's visit was meant to inspire a nation.

President Obama's visit was meant to salvage his reputation.

Big difference.

The Class of the Liberal Elite

Über liberal Gore Vidal takes the disgusting practice of blaming the victim to the extreme, outrageously calling the 13-year-old rape victim that Roman Polanski drugged and brutalized, "a hooker."

Quick, someone award him a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Paranormal Taxivity

via Hot Air.

The Taxpayer Option: 1,990 Pages

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

A bill can only get this bloated when Congress isn't conscientious enough, or diligent enough, to craft concise and thoughtful legislation that accomplishes a specific task with a clear purpose and logical mechanisms for implementation and enforcement.

This is a trainwreck, authored by the lazy and incompetent, and should be aborted instead of the children the bill would require taxpayers to kill.

Ghosts of Campaigns Past

Earlier this week I read and commented upon Special Forces Major Jim Gant's proposal for winning the Afghan war, One Tribe At a Time (PDF). Gan't proposla was based upon his highly successful engagement as the leader of a Special Forces A-team that won the confidence of and became regarded as part of a Pushtun tribe.

Gant's approach suggests using smaller teams of highly-trained and highly-supported soldiers and have them assimilate into Afghanistan's Pashtun tribes to combat the Taliban with minimal but immediate assistance, both monetary and military, as needed.

David Adams and Ann Marlowe reach a similar conclusion in the Wall Street Journal today, noting that more troops applied improperly actually seems to make attempts at providing security counterproductive:

We saw how this could work in the Tani district of Khost starting in 2007. By assisting an ANA company—with a platoon of American paratroopers, a civil affairs team from the U.S.-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, the local Afghan National Police, and a determined Afghan subgovernor named Badi Zaman Sabari—we secured the district despite its long border with Pakistan.

Raids by the paratroopers under the leadership of Lt. Col. Scott Custer were extremely rare because the team had such good relations with the tribes that they would generally turn over any suspect. These good tribal relations were strengthened further by meeting the communities' demands for a new paved road, five schools, and a spring water system that supplies 12,000 villagers.

Yet security has deteriorated in Khost, despite increases of U.S. troops in mid-2008. American strategy began to focus more on chasing the insurgents in the mountains instead of securing the towns and villages where most Khostis live.

The insurgents didn't stick around to get shot when they saw the American helicopters coming. But the villagers noticed when the roads weren't built on time and the commanders never visited.

It doesn't take much more more than a scan of the current headlines to know that the application of the current strategy is not working. We also have multiple sources with boots-on-the-ground experience suggesting what certainly sounds like the same approach to a much more intimate, smaller-scale engagement, with real-world results supporting their positions.

No doubt General McCrystal has his reasons for wanting 40,000 troops, just as Joe Biden has his own (quite daft) reasons for wanting to fight a drone war.

But generals and politicians have historically had problems correctly fighting the war in front of them, haunted by ghosts of campaigns past.

Let's hope our current commanders are capable of avoiding that trap.

SOCOM SCAR/ Remington ACR Updates

The FN SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) that has been deployed in small numbers with U.S. Special Forces will finish an initial deployment in December. Jane's is reporting that a much larger follow-on order of 15,000 5.56 SCAR-L(ight) and 5,000 7.62 SCAR-H(eavy) modular rifles is expected to follow in 2010.

Jason Spradling of Remington addressed rumors about the 6.5 chambering listed for the much-anticipated Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle).

The Firearms Blog had assumed that the 6.5 cartridge would be the 6.5 Grendel, but an industry insider informed him that Remington was not developing a 6.5 Grendel variant, and someone else said that Remington may be developing their own 6.5 cartridge.

Jason confirmed with me via email yesterday that Remington was not actively working on a 6.5 Grnedel variant... or a 6.5 cartridge of their own.

"We have mentioned the 6.5 in our communications on the ACR simply because that platform is capable of handling the Grendel or something like it. At this point, there are no plans to chamber the ACR for the Grendel. However, that may change if we receive enough input from the marketplace to make it seem necessary."

The SCAR-L and ACR are destined for a collision course in the defense market as direct competitors as a replacement for the M-4 carbine. Both rifles are also going to be developed with semi-automatic variants for the civilian market. The SCAR-L and SCAR-H are currently priced north of $2,500 (sometimes far more).

Pricing for the ACR has not yet been released.

The Generals Trap

Memeorandum is abuzz over this article in the Washington Post. It seems that a former Marine Captain with combat experience in Iraq who had joined the State Department in the Zabul province of Afghanistan resigned in September becuase of waht he viewed as a pointless war.

The official, Matthew Hoh, wrote in his letter of resignation:

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan,"' he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

Mr. Hoh is far from being the only American with questions about how we are executing strategy in Afghanistan, and for that matter, in Pakistan. As Michael Yon has been warning for over a year, things in Afghanistan are not going as well as they have in Iraq. We're not winning. We may be losing. All that seems certain is that whatever we are doing now isn't working.

There are more opinions that I can cite on what people want us to do in Afghanistan.

There are know-nothing defeatists on the left that desire an American defeat as a mark against President Bush's legacy. Such a view is perverse, but not unexpected from those that became enslaved to a singular hatred over eight years that have turned them into little more than Gollum, trapped in what one fevered progressive blogger described as "one long, sustained scream."

Opposing them are those with more rational reasons for advocating for policies of withdrawal or various strategies that refocus on continuing the effort.

U.S. General Stanley McCrystal wants to commit a much larger American force of 40,000 to attack the Taliban in what some are referring to as the Afghan Surge, likening it to the military operation in Iraq that did much to bring the country to a relative level of stability and enabled U.S. forces to mostly withdraw to supporting roles.

Others such as Vice President Joe Biden, want to reduce the U.S. footprint within Afghanistan and snipe at Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists with Hellfire missiles fired from the ever-present Predator UAVs circling overhead in some area.

And of course, all of our engagement strategies hinge on collaborating with an Afghan government that means almost nothing outside of Kabul.

But there is no guarantee that either increasing our conventional ground forces nor reeling them back in and remotely targeted suspect foes will affect any sort of meaningful change in the remote regions of Afghanistan. The tribes have defeated and outlasted armies that have fought with much greater ferocity and less regard for human life for longer periods of time. The enemy knows that they do not have to defeat us in battle. They can simply afford to watch us burn ourselves out.

That is not to say that the war is unwinnable. We just need to take a fresh look at how the human terrain is different in Afghanistan, and rededicate ourselves to fighting the current war, and not fall into the ever-present generals trap of fighting the last war.

For all intents and purposes, the American war in Iraq is over, and we won. We deposed a dictator, foundered in a bloody insurgency and near civil war over a number of years, before alighting on a strategy that fit the war. Once those tactics were discovered and put into widespread use, the bulk of the insurgency collapsed or was coerced into giving up, leading us to a current state where American forces spend their time on base or in training roles, and the Iraqi government has become a more or less functional state. Terrorist attacks like the double vehicle bombings of several days ago still spread terror and mayhem, but no overtly longer threaten the stability of the state. There is now hope from politicians and generals of using the lessons learned in Iraq to fight the Afghan war.

But the commanders and politicians have learned the wrong lessons.

They focus on the strategy and tactics of military conflict and diplomacy between governments because that is how they are comfortable thinking. They seek to apply what they think they learned in Iraq, while forgetting how they learned.

They learned from "boots on the ground" who found out what worked by living with the population and learning that mastering the human terrain is far more important than building firebases.

One man who seems to understand the human terrain in Afghanistan better than most is U.S. Army Special Forces operator Major Jim Gant, who was deeply and personally embedded with his team in Mangwel, Konar Province.

Based upon his experiences in Afghanistan, Major Gant wrote about the concept of winning the war through tribal engagement in One Tribe at a Time (PDF).

Regular readers of Confederate Yankee know that I commented frequently about the conflict in Iraq during it's most trying times, but that I've been almost silent on Afghanistan. The reason is simple: I had few contacts there, and little understanding of the nature of the people or the conflict. I wasn't going to opine on a war that I simply don't understand in the slightest.

Thanks to One Tribe at a Time I have a far greater understanding of at least Major Gant's view of how to conduct the war. While I'm open to hear other opinions, his experience and the course he advocates sounds like an approach at least worth studying.

I have a suspicion that if we continue to listen to just the politicians and generals, we may once again stagger on with the wrong strategy, creating a war that we cannot win because our greatest adversary is ourselves.

(h/t Instapundit)

Senate On Verge of Health Care Plan That Will Dramatically Increase Number of Unemployed Low-Income Workers

Democrats in the Senate should call this precisely what it is—the Screw The Poor Compromise:

Details of the legislation could change, but its broad outlines are becoming clear. Employers with more than 50 workers wouldn't be required to provide health insurance, but they would face fines of up to $750 per employee if even part of their work force received a government subsidy to buy health insurance, this person said. A bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee had a lower fine of up to $400 per employee.

The bill to be brought to the Senate floor would create a new public health-insurance plan, but would give states the choice of opting out of participating in it, a proposal that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada backed last week.

Translated into English, what this means is that employers will have to pay far more in payroll taxes, meaning they will have far less money to actually hire workers. Like always, it will be those employees on the lower end of the scale—typically minorities—that will be the most greatly affected by the change, and when I say "affected" I mean like Jody Foster was affected in The Accused.

Phillip Klein at The American Spectator notes the disaster in the making:

The major problem with this disastrous proposal should be obvious to anybody with an inkling of understanding of economics. If you make it more costly for businesses to higher lower-income workers, they won't hire as many. Simply put, if the federal government set out to create a program designed to increase the unemployment rate among the working poor, it would be hard to come up with anything better than this.

There is a reason Reagan warned that the scariest words in our language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help," and the health care proposals being offered by Democrats are a perfect example of the unintended consequences of massive, complicated bills that Congress votes upon without even making an attempt to understand them.

Groups That Forced Banks to Accept Sub-Prime Borrowers Now Protesting Banks for Expecting Sub-Prime Borrowers to Repay Their Loans

You've got to be sickened by the gall of the SEIU, AFL-CIO, and Americans For Financial Reform.

In league with bullying liberal politicians in the House and Senate—and of course, their child sex slavery supporting allies at ACORN—these thugs forced banks to provide mortgages to people with bad credit by extorting them with empty charges of "racism." They are now screaming bloody murder that the banks are engaged in profiteering and preying on these same people.

Why?

For actually giving them the loans they extorted, and then having the temerity to expect these loans to be repaid. God forbid that they are treated like adults and expected to meet the financial obligations they made the decision to take on.

You can't fix stupid, apparently, but you sure as Hell can get them bused to a protest.

Conservatives Top Liberals, Moderates as Top Ideological Group

So sayeth Gallup:

Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

Let's keep those percentages in mind the next time we see a heavily-slanted poll that significantly under-samples Republicans and over-samples Democrats.

Victicrat

Look closely, and you'll see James O'Keefe, the filmmaker who nailed ACORN for supporting child sex trafficking, wearing a pimp suit once again... and dancing.

Badly.

Obama: Let's Wreck This Economy For The Fictional One I Support

"From China to India, from Japan to Germany, nations everywhere are racing to develop new ways to produce and use energy," he said. "The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy. I am convinced of that. And I want America to be that nation."

A reasonably bright teenager can tell you that a country that powers itself exclusvely by "clean energy" simply for the sake of being green puts itself at a severe disadvantage against those economies that go with a with a less-restrictive approach that leverages existing technology. It is common sense.

Sadly, you can guess which small-minded ideologue has very little of that.

Windows 7 Installation Stories?

When we finally replaced our ancient Dell desktop in August we bought a box that came installed with Vista Home Premium and the promise of a free copy of Windows 7 OS when it came out in October.

Last night I ordered the version compatible with my system, and I'm expecting Windows 7 in the mail sometime next week. Online reviews I've read have mostly been encouraging, but I was wondering if any of you have installed Windows 7 over Vista and what your experiences were.

If you've made the upgrade tell us what you thought of it in the comments.

About the Obama Thesis Hoax

When you were younger, your parents probably told you that "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

That bit of homespun wisdom should have been applied to a blog post that claimed tertiary knowledge of a Barack Obama college thesis lambasting both the free market system and the Constitution.

The authors claim a defense of satire now that the blog entry was disclosed as such, though that warning came far too late for those that managed to push the story to multiple web sites and even talk radio.

If people had carefully read the entry before promoting it, however, this paragraph offered a big red flag:

In the paper, in which only the first ten pages were given to the general media, Obama decries the plight of the poor: &qout;I see poverty in every place I walk. In Los Angeles and New York, the poor reach to me with bleary eyes and all I can do is sigh.&qout;

When the blog entry claimed that the first ten pages of the President's thesis was given to the general media and not one soul wrote or talked about it that should have sent up huge warning flares that something was wrong with this story.

That no one bothered to contact Joe Klein to see if the document reportedly released to him been, is an example of shoddy fact-checking.

Sadly, this gives the left wing blog Media Matters more than enough excuse to run a headline that begins "So desperate they'll believe anything—" and have some justification for doing so. Michael Ledeen was quick to post a column noting that he'd been duped by the thesis hoax, which was a responsible way to handle such a situation.

Now, if we can only get the same Media Matters partisans that gloated over this incident to develop or even borrow the integrity to admit they were duped by a lying ACORN Philadelphia employee, we can call it a good day.

Obama's War on the Media

Considering last night's failed attempt to censor Fox News, it wouldn't be irresponsible to wonder if the Obama White House had a direct hand in this Media Matters memorandum dedicating resources to the destruction of the only significant dissident mainstream media outlet in the United States.

An official at a Democratic-leaning organization sends on a memo the group Media Matters is circulating today to progressive groups, calling Fox "a lethal 24/7 partisan political operation" and rallying a coalition of groups to join the White House assault on the network.

"The danger to progressive causes and the institution of journalism has become too significant to ignore," says the introduction to a memo by Media Matters founder David Brock. "At Media Matters, we believe it is of paramount importance that progressive leaders have the information necessary to understand exactly what Fox News has become. We hope this brief memorandum will assist you in reaching your own decision on how best to engage this threat."

A co-worker asked me to explain to him why the White House was targeting Fox.

Essentially, the White House views FOX as a gateway between the distributed network reporting being done by the blogosphere and the traditional media.

Fox amplified the charges against Van Jones, leading to his ouster from his White House appointment before other media even reported on the controversy. Fox also promoted the investigation of a pair of filmmakers that exposed a series of ACORN offices as being supportive of tax fraud for the purposes of child sex trafficking. The embarrassing string of videos—with more waiting in the wings that have yet to be broadcast—forced the Democrats in Congress and private donors alike to sever ties with the group, which was trained by the President himself and with which he maintains close ties. Likewise, Fox has helped to focus attention on other radicals in Obama's government with profiles of Administration officials and hangers-on that the President would prefer unreported.

Along with a handful of other responsible watchdog media, Fox News has been the conduit that led these scandals from the political blogosphere to the mainstream news, and the Obama Administration is attempting to retaliate against Fox News in the strongest possible way. The goal is to both stop Fox News from reporting stories damaging to a floundering Presidency, and to warn other news outlets that they will be targeted by Obama and his allies if they step out of line and report those news stories deemed detrimental to the President.

Leaking the Media Matters memo to the Politico was no accident. It is a carefully-calculated assault designed to terrorize journalists, pundits, newspapers and networks into silent obedience. The goal is to censor all speech against the Administration, by threatening retaliation against critics by the deep-pocketed activist groups that function as shock troops.

In their hearts, the President and his allies share the distaste of a free press which stains all would-be tyrants. They will push back hard against being exposed, and the plot to pummel Fox News into silence is only a small part of a Administration's larger plan to bully the media into submission.

White House Tries to Ban Fox News From Press Pool

Honestly? I never thought they'd take it this far.

Today the White House stepped up its attack on Fox News, announcing that the network would no longer be able to conduct interviews with officials as a member of the Press Pool. The Pool is a five-member group consisting of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC organized by the White House Correspondents Association. Its membership is not subject to oversight by the government.

Before an interview with "Pay Czar" Kenneth Feinberg, the administration announced that Fox News would be banned from the press pool. This marks the first time in history that an administration had attempted to ban an entire network from the press pool.

I cannot recall any Administration in my lifetime so desperately intent on restricting and controlling the media's access to information. This is a blatant attempt at censorship by exclusion.

Obama: Republicans "Do What They're Told"

More of that famous Obama post-partisanship:

"Democrats are an opinionated bunch. You know, the other side, they just kinda sometimes do what they're told. Democrats, y'all thinkin' for yourselves."

Yes, he said Democrats—the same group that demands lock-step conformity from the media and their own followers or else starts a war with them—are the party that thinks for themselves.

Wow.

Farrakhan Angling for Obama Cabinet Position

Nutty statements are a prerequisite, right?

Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan told an audience in Memphis he believes the H1N1 flu vaccine was developed to kill people, a witness said.

Farrakhan, 76, spoke for nearly three hours Sunday at a gathering to observe the religious group's Holy Day of Atonement, which also marked the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported, citing a source who attended the speech.

"The Earth can't take 6.5 billion people. We just can't feed that many. So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some disease," Farrakhan said, adding that many wise people won't take the vaccine.

The medical research community hasn't exactly covered themselves in glory in the past, but asserting there is a widespread genocide being perpetrated under the public's already supicious eye is borderline insane by any measure.

Which I guess means he'll end up formulating the administration's economic policy...

It's Time to Question the Depth of Democratic Party Involvement

Remember the claims of ACORN officials that the string of sex-slavery sting operations perpetrated by a fake pimp and prostitute getting advice from ACORN on how to commit fraud were isolated incidents, and that James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles were thrown out of ACORN offices in other cities such as Philadelphia?

Update: Updated with new link.

Alternative, but very slow (due to heavy traffic?) video link at HopeForAmerica.

Eh, not so much "thrown out" as "welcomed with open arms."

ACORN Philadelphia Office Director Katherine Conway-Russell flat-out lied on camera to the media. ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis continues to lie to the media, claiming that these incidents are isolated. The media repeated their claims unquestioningly.

Now that ACORN has been exposed—yet again—as lying about their willingness to support the creation of brothels for the purpose of juvenile prostitution, will the media outlets that repeated those falsehoods decide to re-report on the truth of this story? Will they issue corrections?

Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe have shown the unedited footage from every ACORN visit they've made, from Baltimore, Washington DC, New York, San Bernardino, San Diego, and the unedited video from Philadelphia will soon be released. Other videos from other ACORN sting operations are rumored to be lurking in the wings.

How much longer can supporters of this criminal enterprise continue to insist they are being unfairly maligned, when every single meeting that Giles and O'Keefe had with ACORN officials led to cooperation in the furthering of a plot to establish a facility for the explicit purpose of juvenile sex slavery?

ACORN is a cancerous product of the Democratic Party, and cannot be separated from it. It has been trained and given advice from the President of the United States himself. It is closely tied to the SEIU thugs that have attacked and intimidated American citizens. ACORN is a criminal enterprise that has been accused of countless acts of voter registration fraud, and which has been accused of stealing elections. It's officials have participated in embezzlement, fraud, intimidation, and cover-ups. As this latest sting video shows, ACORN is little better than the mafia, willing to accept even the most depraved criminal activity.

The Americans public must demand that independent prosecutors be appointed and given the resources necessary to thoroughly investigate ACORN, and yes, that is a serious problem for the Democratic party, both politically and perhaps criminally.

ACORN has invasive, perhaps inseverable ties to the very highest level of the Democratic establishment. If the Obama White House and Justice Department continue to refuse to investigate ACORN, then we will have little choice but to assume that they are guilty of collusion and racketeering themselves...

But then, there isn't much doubt, is there?

Hersh: Pentagon Out to Ruin Obama

From the always fascinating Seymour Hersh:

"A lot of people in the Pentagon would like to see him [Obama] get into trouble," he said. By leaking information that the commanding officer in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, says the war would be lost without an additional 40,000 American troops, top brass have put Obama in a no-win situation, Hersh contended.

"If he gives them the extra troops they're asking for, he loses politically," Hersh said. "And if he doesn't give them the troops, he also loses politically."

The journalist criticized the president for "letting the military do that," and suggested the only way out was for Obama to stand up to them.

"He's either going to let the Pentagon run him or he has to run the Pentagon," Hersh said. If he doesn't, "this stuff is going to be the ruin of his presidency."

Funny. I thought Obama was doing a pretty good job of destroying his Presidency on his own.

As for Hersh, he's had some notable successes, and some equally spectacular duds. How are Dick Cheney's death squads working out for you, Seymour?

Justice Department: African-Americans in NC Town Aren't Smart Enough to Vote Without Help

Enjoy the post-racial present, where a African-American Attorney General reporting to a mixed-race President can tell a majority-black community that they are too dumb to vote in their own self-interest.

Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party.

The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters' right to elect the candidates they want.

This is a highly insulting and abusive overreach of power from the Holder DoJ, and an arrogant one as well. In no uncertain terms, Holder's DOJ is insisting that their poor dumb country cousins can't figure out how to vote "right" without the visual cue of a party affiliation to guide them.

Presumably, the inherent racism in the DOJ position assuming that African-Americans must vote Democrat to be voting in their own self interest goes utterly unnoticed.

No Surprises Here: WaPo/ABC Skews Poll for Public Option

Mercy me:

The sampling comprises 33% Democrats, as opposed to only 20% Republicans. That thirteen-point spread is two points larger than their September polling, at 32%/21%. More tellingly, it's significantly larger than their Election Day sample, which included 35% Democrats to 26% Republicans for a gap of nine points, about a third smaller than the gap in this poll. Of course, that's when they were more concerned about accuracy over political points of view.

Remember when I wrote that poll watchers need to remember the recent Gallup poll on party affiliation? Gallup polled 5,000 adults and found that the gap between Democrats and Republicans had closed to the smallest margin since 2005, six points, and had been reduced more than half since the beginning of the year. For the WaPo/ABC poll, though, their sample gap has increased almost 50% during that time.

Given that skew, it's hardly surprising that they find a 57% approval rating for Obama, up three points since last month, almost the entirety of the gap increase since the last poll. His 48% tie on health care should be a significant disapproval instead, and the 45%/51% slide on the deficit has probably expanded at the same rate as the deficit in a survey with a realistic sample.

The purposeful skewing of the polling data is an old political trick, and one increasingly popular among the media, especially when they are more interesting in influencing the news than reporting it. That Dan Balz and Jon Cohen of the Washington Post would use such obviously flawed data suggests they are more interested in advocacy than journalism.

The public does not support government-run health care.

Americans shocked politicians this summer with their opposition to another government takeover, and the they they were none too subtle about it as they showed up at townhall meetings, rallies, and marches.

No amount of media deception can change the fact that Americans are rejecting Obamacare, the media promoting it, and the politicians that an increasing number of Americans feel were put into office not by the American people, but by the media and special interests.

The media and their allied progressive politicians are increasing playing to an audience of themselves.

No wonder Fox News is causing the White House to scream in anger.

Along with a handful of newspapers and new media, they're the only "honest" news left.

Bloody Chicago

This morning, with the image of a honor student Derrion Albert being beaten to death by a Chicago mob still fresh in out minds, we discover that Chicago's police have all but stopped hiring new officers to fill almost 600 vacant positions:

To save $10 million, Daley's 2009 budget slowed police hiring to a crawl -- with only 200 officers expected to be hired all year.

But, as city revenues plummeted, City Hall opted not to maintain even that snail's pace. Only one class of 46 officers entered the police academy this year.

As of Oct. 9, the Chicago Police Department was 591 officers short of its authorized strength of 13,500 -- and that's not counting hundreds of other officers on duty- and non-duty disability.

As citizens are barred from defending themselves by restrictive gun control, expect the decline in the number of officers to be taken advantage of by criminals.

Things will get worse in Chicago before they get better, and the citizens will have no one to blame but themselves for becoming willing victims.

An Armed Society...

The FBI says the number of police officers slain in the line of duty fell sharply last year.

Bureau statistics list 41 law enforcement officers killed in 2008. The list includes one FBI agent, Sam Hicks, who was shot and killed during a drug raid outside Pittsburgh.

Felony killings of police officers haven't been that low since 1999, although police officer support groups — which use different standards to count officer killings — say the number of officers killed hasn't been this low since the 1960s.

It doesn't fit any of the preferred narratives, so don't count on seeing this reported in too many places.

This is especially true considering it occurred during a year where concealed carry permit applications skyrocketed nationwide, along with the sale of ammunition, handguns, and so-called assault rifles.

Gun sales went up, and the killing of law enforcement officers went down. Just another inconvenient truth.

Yes, We Cannabis

You'll be hearing that quip a lot:

Federal drug agents won't pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.

A White House Comfortable with Genocide?

You cannot expect to hold a person responsible all the actions and/or beliefs of their associates, but it is certainly fair to wonder about their judgment if the actions or beliefs are both particularly heinous and part of their core character.

That was part of the reason so many people were concerned about President Barack Obama's long-running association with terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, a relationship that may have extended as far back as the 1980s, when Dohrn, Ayers, and Obama were part of the same community in Manhattan (Obama was a student at Columbia and beginning to explore political activism at the time Ayer's was at Bank Street College of Education. Bernadine Dohrn? She was sent to prison for a short time for refusing to cooperate with authorities and tell them what she knew about the 1981 Brinks armored car robbery across the Hudson River in Rockland County that left two police officers and a security guard dead).

Ayers and Obama are better known for their collaboration on multiple projects in Chicago, including the Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Obama's first an only executive experience prior to winning the White House (and a verified failure), and for Ayers and Dohrn hosting Obama's very first political fundraiser in their home.

Through all of their relationship, Ayers and Dohrn were minor celebrities for their terrorism within the welcoming confines of Hyde Park's liberal elite. Obama knew Ayers and Dohrn were leaders of a terrorist group. He knew they had literally declared war against the United States. And he more than likely knew that Ayers, Dohrn, and the other terrorist leaders of the Weather Underground had dreams that included the imposition of communism on the United States, and the genocide of 25 million Americans in concentration camps.

It turns out Ayers and Dohrn aren't the only associates of Barack Obama comfortable with genocide. We can also include one of his closest four advisers, Anita Dunn. Victor David Hanson is among those outraged over Dunn's admiration of the greatest ">mass killer in human history:

I am not a big fan of saying that officials should resign for stupid remarks. But interim White House communications director Anita Dunn's praise of Mao Zedong as a "political philosopher" is so unhinged and morally repugnant, that she should hang it up, pronto.

Mao killed anywhere from 50 million to 70 million innocents in the initial cleansing of Nationalists, the scouring of the countryside, the failed Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Tibet, and the internal Chinese gulag. Dunn's praise of a genocidal monster was no inadvertent slip: She was reading from a written text and went into great detail to give the full context of the remark. Moreover, her comments were not some student outburst from 30 years ago; they were delivered on June 5, 2009. Her praise of Mao's insight and courage in defeating the Nationalists was offered long after the full extent of Mao's mass-murdering had been well documented. Mao killed more people than any other single mass killer in the history of civilization.

Once again, someone close to the President is found to be an admirer of political genocide. In that context, perhaps the Oath Keepers aren't so radical after all... at least as it comes to being willing to resist unlawful orders.

Applying Rights Equally

A letter to the editor in the Arizona Daily Sun asks an interesting question:

If I understand it correctly, a lot of folks are saying health care is a right for all and we all should help pay for it. I'm wondering: Since owning a gun is a right, do you think everyone can chip in and get me a new rifle?

That sounds like a better use of tax dollars than most.

I Don't Get the Controversy

It's the only thing she's ever posted online that was worth the amount of time it took to understand it.

Re-grinding the Lancet

Reality Check:

Iraq’s government said at least 85,000 Iraqis were killed from 2004 to 2008, officially answering one of the biggest questions of the conflict - how many perished in the sectarian violence that nearly led to a civil war.

What remains unanswered by the government is how many died in the 2003 US invasion and in the months of chaos that followed it.

A report by the Human Rights Ministry said 85,694 people were killed from the beginning of 2004 to Oct. 31, 2008 and 147,195 were wounded. The figures included Iraqi civilians, military and police but did not cover US military deaths, insurgents, or foreigners, including contractors. And it did not include the first months of the war after the 2003 US-led invasion.

The Associated Press reported similar figures in April based on government statistics obtained by the AP showing that the government had recorded 87,215 Iraqi deaths from 2005 to February 2009. The toll included violence ranging from catastrophic bombings to execution-style slayings.

The infamous Lancet study cited by every major media outlet and liberal blog was only off about half a million. I'll be expecting apologies for pushing this politically-concocted propaganda any minute now...

I wonder how many of the Lancet guys dabble in global warming research...

Ballon Bust?

Uh... this doesn't seem to match the Heene family balloon boy story:

White House to Use Hollywood For Propaganda Push

By itself, this isn't unexpected:

President Barack Obama will return to Texas today for the first time since taking office nine months ago, sharing the stage with former President George H.W. Bush in a forum designed to "engage the nation" in a renewed conversation on volunteerism.

Volunteerism is a great thing and I strongly believe in it. I'm glad that a former and current President can get together to promote the idea of volunteerism.

But like so many things that President Obama has his hands on, there is a perverse selfishness and ideological opportunism associated with this effort.

Big Hollywood has now linked the Administration with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) in a bid to use 60+ television programs to push for people to volunteer... for left wing political advocacy.

Here is a listing of the shows, by network, that have signed on to participate in stealth propaganda campaign organized by the White House and their allies in the entertainment industry.

We thought it was bad when the White House tried to use the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to push progressive political propaganda.

Obviously, they've set their sights on casting a much greater net, trying to co-op network and cable television to indoctrinate both adults and children.

"I'm Sure Everyone is Exploring Their Options Right Now."

I contacted several shooting industry sources regarding California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to sign oppressive ammunition restriction bill AB962.

The bill requires ammunition to be held behind the counter, restricts sales to individuals to a maximum of 50 rounds per month, bans direct mail and internet sales, and requires retailers to collect intrusive personal information for each sale including:

Date of transaction.

Buyer's date of birth, full address, driver's license number, right thumbprint and signature.

Brand, type and amount of ammunition purchased.

Name of the salesperson who processed the sale.

While the law theoretically affects only handgun ammunition, many rifles also shoot handgun-caliber ammunition and owners of those firearms will be affected as well. That information would be turned over to the government which would effectively be able to compile a backdoor handgun ownership database on all California gun owners.

The prohibition does not outlaw the unregistered ownership of handgun ammunition, nor does it stop individuals from crossing state lines to purchase as much ammunition as they desire. In effect, it penalizes law-abiding recreational shooters, while potentially creating a lucrative market for ammunition smuggling into California.

The California Association of Firearms Retailers (CAFR) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) are highly critical of the bill, stating:

NSSF has estimated that AB 962 would cost California at least $2.92 million annually in lost sales taxes and $629,000 in increased operating costs for state agencies. Lost retail sales in California were estimated at $35.7 million. These estimates followed the recent release of a study by the Governor's Office of Small Business Advocate that show over-regulation of small businesses in California costing the state an estimated $492 billion, almost five times the state’s general fund budget and almost a third of the state's gross product. The Small Business Advocate study also found that California's regulatory burdens costs an average of $134,122 per California business, $13,801 per household and $4,685 per resident each year. Small businesses are 98 percent of the state's enterprises and provide 52 percent of the jobs.

"Despite the excuses given this morning by the governor, nothing will change the fact that this legislation will drive many small, independent retailers already struggling in a poor economy out of business or force them to flee California's burdensome and hostile regulatory environment for greener economic pastures elsewhere-- taking with them their jobs and tax revenue," said CAFR President Marc Halcon.

I sent email to contacts within the ammunition industry, and few seem willing to talk about a possible response.

I asked them all the same specific question: Do you anticipate sanctions by manufacturers against the state of California in response for this law, perhaps similar to Barrett's refusal to sell or service CA state agencies after the ill-advised .50 BMG rilfe ban went into effect?

While anti-trust laws keeps the companies from discussing such an idea with one another, one highly-placed industry source was willing to provide his opinion off the record.

He would not rule out a decision by one or more ammunition manufacturers to refuse to do business with the State of California while the ban was in effect.

"Nothing would surprise me. I'm sure everyone is exploring their options right now."

If ammunition manufacturers do decide to go this route in response, state and local law enforcement agencies may have to find other vendors to supply their ammunition, or face running low on ammunition themselves.

53 House Republicans Call for Jennings Ouster

They see him pushing a pro-homosexuality agenda in his un-elected, un-vetted role as "safe school czar."

I find Jennings unfit for failing to report the serial statutory rape of one of his students, especially since his later activism at least hints that Jennings allowed the rape to go unreported because the 15-year-old male student was having a homosexual affair with a much older man. One is left to wonder if sympathy for their shared preference led him to cover up the crime, whereas he might have turned in heterosexual offenders.

If Obama keeps Jennings on-board, the public will likely remember him for the new position he will represent.

That of Home School Czar.

So... When are These Guys Getting Kicked Out?

It has now been confirmed that Rush Limbaugh is not longer part of the bid to buy the St. Louis Rams, a political move orchestrated by those willing to risk libel and slander lawsuits to derail a hated political commentator's desire to participate in an entirely legal business transaction.

Rush's "crime" was that he was accused of being a racist. These charges were supported by a series of poorly-faked quotes concocted anonymously online and repeated ad nauseum by liberals in the media who did not even attempt to verify if these smears were accurate before spreading them.

If the NFL is going to force Limbaugh to drop out of the running to buy the Rams based upon poorly-faked allegations, then the much more credible 471 arrests for real crimes documented against NFL players since 2000 should lead to all of the arrested players still active in the league immediately being immediately suspended, if not terminated.

After all, if accusation is the new standard of proof in the NFL, it needs to be applied to every player and owner evenly. If it isn't, then it's real bigotry... and we know the NFL hates that.

(h/t Rock Moran for the NFL crime database)

Non-Felon Left Behind

Michael Vick get his rocks off getting dogs to fight each other to the death, and is welcomed back to the NFL with open arms, along with other convicts and thugs. Rush Limbaugh gets tarred for things he didn't say by a series of dishonest hacks, and that enough to knock him out of the bidding to buy a team.

Maybe if he had actually killed someone, he would have been accepted.

Anybody got Ray Lewis' number?

Climate Change Zealots: Stop Breathing, America!

I'm not sure anymore... should this be categorized as religion, politics, or humor?

Rush Limbaugh's Critics are Big, Fat Idiots

I don't listen to talk radio, and so I only hear what Rush Limbaugh says when someone else mentions it. That said, he's been on the air as a conservative talker since the mid 1980s, with an audience of 20 million. His political and social views, vocabulary, and style are perhaps more well known than any person on the planet.

That is why recent attempts to attribute a series of false racist quotes to him is so unsettling.

Limbaugh has strong views on many topics, and if he was a hardcore racist, he would have been called out for it decades ago, boycotted, and perhaps forced off the air. But the simple logic it takes to process that thought is easily blinded by hate, and a number of left-wing journalists and bloggers have decided to post various false racist quotes attributed to Limbaugh in an attempt to ruin his bid to buy the St. Louis Rams football team.

None of the false quotes even sounds remotely like Limbaugh in tone or substance, and even more tellingly, none are sourced, a red flag to any competent journalist or blogger in a day and age when such things can be easily falsified on the Internet.

Why do these journalists and bloggers lie? Why do they commit an easily disproven libel and slander in order to tar an opponent?

It's about power and control, and the moral relativism that infects them, convincing them that even the most blatant smear is justified if it thwarts their political enemies or can help them achieve even the most temporary victory.

There is a very simple reason that conservative media are ascendant and liberal media are in decline. People have learned that liberal media cannot be trusted to get even basic facts right if their agenda can be forwarded with bias and fraud. Fox News and other conservative outlets may or may not be "fair and balanced," but they certainly comes closer to being the most trusted sources of news, because the American people simply find them more trustworthy.

Failure to Launch

The only thing that can be said about this level of ineptitude is that it takes a committee to screw things up to this level, so there should be plenty of blame to pass around.

He's a Buddhist?

Apparently someone in Lakeville, MA decided that vandalizing a golf course was the best way to vent their disgust with President Obama, carving into the green " I 卍Obama."

But even a casual glance at the defaced green immediately tells you something is off: The swastika is facing counterclockwise.

Instead of insisting Obama is a stealth Muslim, are some on the fringe now contending he is a Buddhist?

Symbols, like words, mean things.

Chris Matthews Fantacizes About Rush Limbaugh Dying a Violent Death

Uttered this morning:

You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody's going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But we'll be there to watch. I think he's Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you watching, Rush?

If Your Senator Vote For The Baucus "Bill," Tar and Feather Them

Let's be very accurate about what the Senate is about to vote on today. They are not voting on a health care bill. There is no legislative language. They are voting on nothing more or less than a tentative and vaguely-designed wishlist that they will then back-fill after the fact.

I don't care if you are a Democrat. I don't care if you are a Republican. I don't care if you favor one of the various current health care proposals being offered, or if you'd rather prefer someone come up with a more workable idea.

Regardless of your politics, you should be outraged that the Senate Finance Committee (and the Senate as a whole) thinks it can get away with this confidence game. It is fraud, a classic bait-and-switch. They intend to vote on vaporware, and then design a substandard product after the fact.

We deserve better than this. We deserve to have real legislation to discuss and debate. Instead, these cowards want to vote on vague generalities so that they can deny their complicity later when it all falls apart. It is gutless, and a blatant betrayal of the citizens they were elected to represent.

Any Senator who votes for the so-called Baucus "Bill" should be dragged into the street, stripped naked, covered in boiling tar, then feathered. I suspect that with the miracles of modern medicine, a good many of them may even survive the procedure.

Unless, of course, their health care plan doesn't cover that.

Obamacare Wonders "What's in Your Wallet?"

Don't you just have an extra $4,000 a year just lying around?

After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday with a report warning that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected.

Obamacare is premised on the model of socialized medicine that is failing throughout the world, promises to make treating specific diseases less survivable, and will compound it all with increasing government bloat and inefficiencies.

No thanks.

No, Jennings Did Not Claim Killing Over Name-Calling is Acceptable

"Safe Schools Czar" Kevin Jennings is a trainwreck for the Obama Adminstration, having hidden sexual abuse of a minor while a teacher, and then hero-worshipping a known member of NAMLA, a perverse group that advocates sex between perverted old men and underage boys. For these incidents alone any Presidential Administration with any sense of decency would ask Jennings to resign, so it is perhaps unsurprising that he still works for the Obama Administration.

But as morally compromised Jennings is, the latest complaint being aired against him is a false allegation that can only come about from a misreading of the point Jennings was attempting to make.

Jennings was not attempting to say that killing someone over a sexual smear is acceptable. He was condemning it.

Read the paragraph in full:

We need to own up to the fact that our culture teaches boys that being "a man" is the most important thing in life, even if you have to kill someone to prove it. Killing someone who calls you a faggot is not aberrant behavior but merely the most extreme expression of a belief that is beaten (sometimes literally) into boys at an early age in this country: Be a man—don't be a faggot.

Jennings was clearly disgusted with the events he was writing about. He's claiming that a society that promotes murder as an acceptable response to name-calling is abhorrent. And in this one instance, he's right.

Like E.F. Hutton Said... You Earned It.

Progressive bloggers pushing for the adoption of the LGBT agenda President Obama said he would implement on their behalf have now been given the cold shoulder by the White House. Once they complained that Obama failed to live up to his campaign promises, they were summarily dismissed by the Administration as part of "the internet left fringe" that needs to "take off their pajamas."

The reaction to the betrayal is as you would expect, with lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I guess it isn't quite so funny when the real teabaggers are dismissed just as easily as those smeared as such.

Remembering Learning of the Battle of Oxford

Until I saw this linked on Instapundit, I never knew such an event took place:

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, Oxford, Miss., will be coming to terms with one of the major events of its past. Forty years ago on that day, in the early morning, a force of nearly 30,000 American combat troops raced toward Oxford in a colossal armada of helicopters, transport planes, Jeeps and Army trucks.

Their mission was to save Oxford, the University of Mississippi and a small force of federal marshals from being destroyed by over 2,000 white civilians who were rioting after James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran, arrived to integrate the school.

The troops were National Guardsmen from little towns all over Mississippi, regular Army men from across the United States and paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

They had to capture the city quickly; the F.B.I. had intelligence that thousands of Klansmen and segregationists from California to Georgia may have set off for Oxford, many of them armed.

The first troops to reach Oxford found over 100 wounded federal marshals at the center of campus, 27 of them hit by civilian gunfire. Packs of hundreds of rioters swarmed the city, some holding war dances around burning vehicles.

Snipers opened fire on the Army convoys and bricks struck the heads of American soldiers. Black G.I.'s in one convoy were ambushed by white civilians who tried to decapitate them in their open Jeeps with metal pipes....

...The Army troops restored order to the school and the city, block by block. A girl watched a team of infantrymen under attack on the Oxford town square and, according to a reporter at the scene, wondered aloud, "When are they going to shoot back?" Except for a few warning shots, they never did.

This is just another dark chapter in American history that the "higher powers" in our education system preferred us not to know about growing up, like the Battle of Athens or the Wilmington Insurrection.

The claim has always been that " history is written by the winners," but have we lost knowing ourselves when both the winners and losers refuse to acknowledge what occurred?

Daughter Saves Mother After Death Panel Sentences Her to Starve To Death

But don't worry, folks.

It could never happen here.

And no, the reality of socialized medicine killing patients isn't limited to Britain.

Are Our Troops Getting the Best Weapons?

In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either.

When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of being overrun by nearly 200 insurgents.

Which raises the question: Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy?

Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times.

There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of veterans far more qualified to opine on whether or not the M-4/M-16 family of small arms are the best that money can buy, but it doesn't take a great deal of qualification to suspect that the answer to this question is "no."

The basic weapon design for the M-16/M-4 is over 40 years old. While there have been modifications and upgrades during its service lifetime, it has always been prone to failure in adverse conditions. The shorter M-4 carbine, with an abbreviated gas system, is also said to be less reliable than the longer barreled M-16.

Then there is the issue of the cartridge the weapon uses. While the 5.56 NATO round can create devastating wounds at higher velocities, the shorter barrel of the M-4 reduces the velocity of the small .22-caliber bullet so that at extended ranges, velocity drops off enough that the bullet merely penetrates straight through without immediately stopping the enemy. I've written before about soldiers I've spoken to directly that had to shoot insurgents in the head after multiple shots to the torso failed to stop them.

Likewise, the cartridge has been criticized from the beginning because the high velocity lightweight bullets fail to penetrate light cover and stop the enemy on the other side. This is a significant problem, especially as U.S. troops typically encounter an opposition with 7.62-caliber weapons that have greater penetration capability.

Our soldiers are armed with a weapon advanced in years with a history of failing at the worst possible time, chambered for a cartridge with a dubious record of stopping the enemy in real-world combat scenarios.

Of course, our military knows this.

The XM-8 program developed a lighter, more reliable 5.56 weapon. The military cancelled it, but civilians can get a semi-automatic version for themselves. There are also other, more reliable weapons being used in small quantities in the field, from the HK416 to the FN SCAR.

Other cartridges are being tested as well, from the 6.8 SPC specifically developed for the military, to the 6.5 Grendel.

The simple fact of the matter is that we are not arming our military with the most modern, reliable, or potent weapons.

I'll leave it for others to explain why.

Diluted

Democrats in the media and in politics have so over-used cries to racism in an attempt to marginalize legitimate opposition that the word has rapidly lost the stigma attached to it. Indeed, in the context of the political blogosphere, bloggers on the center-right have been using the term self-referentially as a sarcastic bit of snark to the constant knee-jerk claims of racism they know will radiate from progressives.

It's a shame the left has decided to make such reckless use of the word in an attempt to stifle opposition, because when real racism occurs, calling it out with the level of derision it deserves becomes that much more difficult.

This is real racism.

When you walk into the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in Paulding County, you feel like you've walked into a different era.

Behind the pool tables stands a mannequin in a Klu Klux Klan costume, but it's what's outside of the Patrick Lanzo's restaurant that has some people angry.
Lanzo put up a sign that reads "Obama's plan for health-care: N*&%*r rig it."

Keep that link bookmarked, lefties. The next time you feel the urge to tar someone as a racist as a catch-all smear, you can use that as a touchstone.

Sadly, labeling people such as Lanzo as a racist simply isn't the pejorative it once was, thanks to those who have turned the label into a joke.

Update: Another Black Conservative is on the same wavelength.

Miami Herald goes Race-Baiting

According to the Miami Herald headline:

Fla. GOP members shoot Muslim targets at gun range

This is the target they were shooting at.

Now, do you see a Muslim, or a terrorist pointing a rocket-propelled grenade?

You can find this and other racist GOP shooting subjects at, uh, Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.

The real racism here is that several layers of producers and editors at the Miami Herald thinks "Muslim" and "terrorist" are synonyms. The next time they want to look for people with racial/cultural biases, they'll have to go far.

Who Nominated Obama For a Nobel Just Nine Days In?

Only the shadow knows...

Sure Sounds Familiar

Lots of acclaim, and undeserved kudos that became an embarrassment.

I was just ahead of my time...

Ig-Nobel

In a travesty out of Oslo, hope defeated change as Presidential candidate Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize today for precisely no accomplishments. Obama took office less than two weeks before the February 1 nomination deadline.

Noel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland was pressed by the media to explain why Obama deserved the award, and could only offer this defense.

As to whether the prize was given too early in Mr. Obama’s presidency, he said: "We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do."

The prize committee said it wanted to enhance Mr. Obama's diplomatic efforts so far rather than anticipate events in the future.

Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for President.

Good. Grief.

Update: With their typical dissembling, Media Matters links to this post and claims it represents "open disdain for American achievement under Obama. "

I, along with the rest of the world, can only ask, what achievement under Obama?

If the President had actual accomplished something of note in the twelve days of his Presidency before the Nobel nominating deadline passed, he would have at least some argument in favor of his award. As it presently stands, he was given the award for rhetoric. This awarding of the Peace Prize to Obama dishonors those who have done far more in the cause of peace than running a self-serving political campaign full of empty promises.

Even Obama—ever the narcissist—admits he is unworthy of the award:

I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize.

Being a liberal, however, he gladly took what he admittedly didn't deserve.

It would have been a mark of class if the President agreed with the rest of the world and declined an honor he admittedly didn't earn as an acknowledgment to those who risked so much more in the name of peace.

But that is asking too much of a man who has delivered so little.

Update: Verum Serum brings the Media Matters lapdog to heel, while the DNC wets themselves.

Fake Mais Précis

Apparently, the Obama's questionable taste in art includes a penchant for frauds.

Alma Thomas' 1963 "Watusi (Hard Edge)" is unmistakably a knock-off of Henrí Matisse's 1953 "L'Escargot." No, I'm not an art buff, the symmetry is uncanny, and forms a near-perfect overlay.

In other news, Michelle Malkin is plagiarizing my original.

The Internet Can Now End

There is simply no way to top this Bulwer-Lytton-quality line from Mark Steyn:

The State Department really ought to issue travel advisories warning visitors to the United Kingdom about cage-fighting transvestites and poisoned curries from gay tripedal-catnappers.

WONDERFUL: Obama Administration Too Stupid/Lazy to Understand COIN; Now Waffles

It seems that the most brilliant President evah and the rest of his Administration are now claiming that they bought into counter-insurgency (COIN) doctrine for Afghanistan without, uh, bothering to understand what it meant:

To some civilians who participated in the strategic review, that conclusion was much less clear. Some took it as inevitable that more troops would be needed, but others thought the thrust of the new approach was to send over scores more diplomats and reconstruction experts. They figured a counterinsurgency mission could be accomplished with the forces already in the country, plus the 17,000 new troops Obama had authorized in February.

"It was easy to say, 'Hey, I support COIN,' because nobody had done the assessment of what it would really take, and nobody had thought through whether we want to do what it takes," said one senior civilian administration official who participated in the review, using the shorthand for counterinsurgency.

The failure to reach a shared understanding of the resources required to execute the strategy has complicated the White House's response to the grim assessment of the war by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, forcing the president to decide, in effect, what his administration really meant when it endorsed a counterinsurgency plan. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's follow-up request for more forces, which presents a range of options but makes clear that the best chance of achieving the administration's goals requires an additional 40,000 U.S. troops on top of the 68,000 who are already there, has given senior members of Obama's national security team "a case of sticker shock," the administration official said.

Government officials could be forgiven for not understanding what COIN entails... in 2003. But a model of COIN doctrine similar that proposed for Afghanistan has been tested and proven in Iraq over the past several years. There will be some specific tweaks to the doctrine proposed for Afghanistan based upon differing human factors and tactical and strategic goals, but the basic components, theories, manpower levels and logistics are not dissimilar.

Now claiming that they didn't understand the cost of COIN reveals that the Obama Administration simply failed to do their due diligence:

This is a damning indictment of the President and his lack of preparation for the job, but it goes farther than that. Obama has essentially been "on the job" since the transition, which started eleven months ago. Considering the priority of any policy that puts American men and women in battle, Obama should have worked to understand the implications of his COIN solution from Day 1 in the transition, if not Day 1 of his term in office. He appointed McChrystal for this specific purpose in the spring without bothering to understand the concepts and the resources required for COIN.

In other words, Obama has half-assed it, and has gotten caught.

Laziness and a "can do... nothing" attitude is steadily becoming the hallmark of an Administration that seems far more interested in appearing on talk shows or making campaign speeches that exerting actual leadership decisions.

The Peter Principle Presidency continues to underperform.

RDU Acclaimed as #1 in Daily Beast America's Smartest Cities Ranking

Obviously, they chose to forget the IQ displayed by Duke University's Gang of 88, but overall, I agree with their assessment.

I've been working in the Research Triangle Park most of my adult life and have worked with and for some brilliant companies (including my current employer), and advanced degrees are commonplace. Combine that with the overall culture and climate, and it's a tough place to bet against.

That said, their methodology is questionable, even as it is flattering.

Infamous Pistol-Toting Soccer Mom Victim of Murder-Suicide

Meleanie Hain, who made the news last year after open-carrying to a youth soccer game and having her permit revoked and later reinstated, was shot and killed last night in an apparent murder-suicide:

A Lebanon woman who gained national notoriety last year as a champion of Second Amendment rights after she brought her loaded handgun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game was shot and killed Wednesday night in an apparent murder-suicide.

Meleanie Hain, 31, and her husband, Scott Hain, 33, were pronounced dead by Lebanon County coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum shortly after 8:30 p.m. after a two-hour standoff with police outside their home at Second Avenue and East Grant Street. The episode ended quietly when police entered the house after trying to make contact with anyone inside.

No cause of death was announced, and autopsies were scheduled for today, said Yocum.

Lebanon police Chief Daniel Wright was guarded with information as detectives began the preliminary stages of the investigation late Wednesday night. He acknowledged that the Hains were both found dead and had suffered gunshot wounds inside their 1 ½-story brick home in a quiet neighborhood in Lebanon's southside. He would not provide any additional details, other than to say that police do not feel any other people were involved.

District Attorney David Arnold, who was at the scene, refused to comment.

Several neighbors said they heard or saw the couple's children run from the house screaming, "Daddy shot Mommy!" shortly before the 911 Center was called at 6:20 p.m.

Murder-suicides are among the most selfish of crimes, often depriving children of both parents and destroying their childhoods and their ability to trust and relate to others during their formative years.

Like the murder-attempted suicide that took place in my town yesterday morning, my thoughts and prayers go out to the traumatized children first and foremost as I wonder what can turn "love" into such selfish, family-destroying hate.

The CBO Non-Estimate of the Baucus Non-Bill

Democrats in the Senate and the media keep talking about the so-called "Baucus Bill," Sen. Max Baucus' attempt at something vaguely like a Senate health care bill. But is isn't a health care bill; it's merely an outline.

There is no substance to it, no legislation to vote on, a fact made abundantly clear in the first paragraph of the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of this pipe-dream:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have completed a preliminary analysis of the Chairman’s mark for the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, incorporating the amendments that have been adopted to date by the Committee on Finance. That analysis reflects the specifications posted on the committee's Web site on October 2, 2009, corrections posted on October 5, and additional clarifications provided by the staff of the committee through October 6. CBO and JCT's analysis is preliminary in large part because the Chairman’s mark, as amended, has not yet been embodied in legislative language.

In plain English, the CBO released a fantasy estimate based upon non-existent legislation. With no actual language in place, the CBO estimate is worthless as budget document, even if it has proven a very useful diversion for those trying to force socialized health care upon a nation that clearly doesn't want it.

In Chicago, Blameshifting on Youth Violence Continues

Loyal Bloomberg employee John McCormick certainly knows who signs his paycheck. McCormick's article Chicago Violence Haunts Obama as Gun-Control Backers Left Cold laments the fact that when U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder meet with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley today, they won't be able to blame Chicago's most recent and high profile youth death on firearms.

Honor student Derrion Albert was beaten to death with splinted railroad ties on September 24 by other youths in a crime that was captured on cell phone video and broadcast around the world.

Gun control vultures are predictably dismayed that they cannot use Albert's young corpse as a prop:

Some gun-control advocates question the administration's timing as Duncan and Holder arrive after a highly publicized beating that didn't involve a gun.

Missed Opportunities

"Where there have been opportunities for the president to speak out about the issue of firearm violence, he has missed any number of opportunities," said Thom Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

Doing so in the Albert case "provides the cover" to address youth violence without confronting the gun lobby, said Mannard, whose group's board of directors included Duncan until he left for his current post.

Groups like the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, the Violence Policy Center and the Brady Campaign have a structural flaw in their basic underlying philosophy. They have deluded themselves into thinking that a banning a device (a firearm) will somehow mitigate the cultural problem of violence in certain groups. It doesn't work that way, as Derrion Albert's death at the hands of an angry mob of his peers so readily proved.

A subculture that accepts, embraces, and glorifies violence in their entertainment (music, video games, television shows, movies, etc) unsurprisingly develops and nurtures individuals and groups that accept, embrace, and glorifies violence in the real world. Individuals so desensitized to violence find it socially acceptable—in many instances expected—to affect violence upon others with found objects, homemade weaponry, or their fists and feet.

Put bluntly, most pay lip service to the idea of quelling violence, but none are willing to face the fierce opposition that will arise when the offending subcultures are named, nor are they willing to face the economic backlash of taking on industries that make billions profiteering off the glorification of this lifestyle.

Such reflection is necessary for change, but interests that thrive of the status quo—Hollywood, record companies, clothing manufacturers, professional victims advocates, politicians, lobbyists, etc.—have no motivation to cut their own profits merely because urban youth are killing themselves in neighborhoods they will never visit.

Blogger: Ayers Admitted Authoring Obama's Dreams from my Father

The meeting seems semi-verified by the existence of the photo.

Ayers blurting out that he wrote Dreams to the first conservative blogger he ran across seems much more suspect, but still plausible if Ayers merely wanted to jerk Anne Leary around.

Actually, seriously claiming authorship?

I doubt it.

Shovel-Ready

Writing in Tina Brown's Daily Beast, Conor Friedersdorf takes issue with the success of Andrew Breitbart's media outlets, claiming that Breitbart should try to meet the standards of the... New York Times?

Andrew Breitbart is the man in the middle of the current madness. Credit him for sponsoring Big Government, the site that broke the ACORN story and prompted the Times to begin monitoring breaking news on partisan sites. These are substantial accomplishments that improve the state of journalism.

But Mr. Breitbart's role hardly ends there.

As a proprietor of Big Government and Big Hollywood, part of the team that runs The Drudge Report, and a regular guest on Fox News, especially Sean Hannity's show, he is a leader among folks who complain that the Times is a pernicious force in American life—that it ignores stories that cut against its ideological bent, too often makes mistakes in its reporting, and gives insufficient consideration to ideological insights other than those held by its staff. This is somewhat odd given that Mr. Breitbart's media empire, and the outlets with which he most closely associates himself, are thoroughly ideological enterprises, publish few if any ideologically heterodox pieces, seldom if ever correct factual mistakes, and ignore liberal insights entirely.

Friedersdorf's screed is daft, to put it mildly.

The idea of an unbiased, objective media is a late 20th century invention proffered primarily by those within the media establishment that wanted to continue to push their ideas and ideals without being challenged by upstarts.

Sadly for Mr. Friedersdorf, that illusion was dashed long ago, mostly due to the heavy liberal bias that manifested itself time and again not just in how a story was covered, but which stories were covered to the exclusion of others.

What Breitbart's various sites provide are platforms for a center-right view of the world, with insights every bit as valid as those that the left-leaning media tries to sell. Apparently, the idea of a free marketplace of ideas isn't one critics admire once put into actual practice.

Are Big Government and Big Hollywood ideologically-driven? Unreservedly. But more importantly, Breitbart's sites all wear their viewpoint unabashedly on their proverbial sleeves... if only the Times and other news outlets weakly feigning objectivity would display such intellectual honesty!

But honesty is not part of their business model, nor is objectivity, nor is competence, or accuracy. If he thinks otherwise, Mr. Friedersdorf may need to check the prescription on his rose-colored glasses.

That said, Friedersdorf's hissy fit at the building of a conservative media empire that provides an alternative to the worldview he would like to protect is hardly surprising.

His specific criticisms, however, are amusing, especially coming from someone who writes at the Atlantic, home to infamous Trig Truther, hypocrite and ideologue Andrew Sullivan.

The temerity to criticize conservative media for inaccuracies and bias is laughable considering the dismal track record of the left-leaning legacy media, but the fact that Friedersdorf published his thoughts in Tina Brown's Daily Beast—the left-leaning, status quo-defending, botoxed and digitized old media-with-a-new-face—is even more ripe, considering that Brown's own husband abused the Beast in an article full of half-truths and outright lies that Brown refused to retract or correct.

Both old and new media have significant room for improvement, but demanding that a successful and growing enterprise follow the example of a legacy media spiraling into the ground is, quite frankly, absurd.

Forget the Baby Steps Towards Fascism: Obama Administration Attacks Free Speech at United Nations

The old belief was that totalitarianism was effected in small bites, cutting off the fringes until only a tiny center remained, which was quickly overwhelmed. Such a thought was behind the famous construct of "First they came for..."

Our present Administration is foregoing that approach to totalitarianism. Instead, they've gone full-bore against our most cherished right, joining with an oppressive Egyptian regime to craft a resolution limits freedom of speech.

The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression. The newly-minted American policy was rolled out at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council, which ended in Geneva on Friday. American diplomats were there for the first time as full Council members and intent on making friends.

President Obama chose to join the Council despite the fact that the Organization of the Islamic Conference holds the balance of power and human rights abusers are among its lead actors, including China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. Islamic states quickly interpreted the president's penchant for "engagement" as meaning fundamental rights were now up for grabs. Few would have predicted, however, that the shift would begin with America's most treasured freedom.

For more than a decade, a UN resolution on the freedom of expression was shepherded through the Council, and the now defunct Commission on Human Rights which it replaced, by Canada. Over the years, Canada tried mightily to garner consensus on certain minimum standards, but the "reformed" Council changed the distribution of seats on the UN's lead human rights body. In 2008, against the backdrop of the publication of images of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, Cuba and various Islamic countries destroyed the consensus and rammed through an amendment which introduced a limit on any speech they claimed was an "abuse . . . [that] constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination."

The Obama administration decided that a revamped freedom of expression resolution, extracted from Canadian hands, would be an ideal emblem for its new engagement policy. So it cosponsored a resolution on the subject with none other than Egypt--a country characterized by an absence of freedom of expression.

What a disgrace.

The Obama Residency

In well-written post on Saturday, Donald Sensing (via Instapundit) refers to our current disaster at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as the "Maye West presidency."

He explores other opinions about Barack Obama, and builds a compelling argument that we are presently saddled with a POTUS that is a narcissist that has risen well beyond his level of competency.

We have a President that loves campaigning and making speeches, but who is in far over his head, and who does not have the leadership skills or experience to do the job. Barack Obama has had only one previous executive role in his life. He was the titular figurehead of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which failed in its mission and was shut down.

So far as President, he has no notable successes, and in matters of real importance, he has either stood on the sidelines as a junior varsity punter (health care, the failed "stimulus," cap-and-tax), or has refused to suit up at all (war in Afghanistan, Iranian nuclear program).

Notes Sensing:

As others have exhaustively pointed out, there is nothing at all in Obama's resume that shows he ever made highly difficult decisions that depended, at the end, on his own personal reservoir of wisdom and experience. So he does not tackle the inbox because its contents are above his competence. (One is reminded of Obama telling Rick Warren that when an unborn child gets human rights is "above my pay grade.") He tends instead to lesser matters that match his lower level of competence and gratifyingly feed the ego. And so he flies to Copenhagen to deliver a speech of no significance on a matter of no consequence. Why? Because he can do that - simply standing in front of a crowd reading eloquently from a teleprompter he can handle quite well.

We have a President who cannot do his job, and what's worse, a Vice President that has to be reminded not to eat paint chips giving his boss advice.

As his action—and inactions—slowly but surely separate the hype from the substance of the man, it becomes ever more apparent that the ever-present stylized "O" logo and the on-going campaign slogan of "Hope and Change" are being replaced in the minds of those who soberly assess the compounding failures of this President, and find an old image and slogan far more accurate, and ominous.

Duck and Cover

UnManned Handgun Attacks, Wounds Three

Tales of the gun weird:

Michael Thourot had just pulled his hand away from the warm metal when it started spewing bullets.

Moments before, Sherri Thourot had watched her husband fire and reload the Jennings 9mm. Then he set it down for her to shoot next at the range.

That's when the handgun started firing on its own, she said, spinning around in circles, landing the Thourots and an Irish tourist in the hospital.

"Nothing like that has ever happened," said Sherri Thourot on Sunday evening from her room at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

She's the One

Ann Althouse saw Michael Moore's new movie.

Alert Janet Napolitano: Right Wing Terrorist Arrested in Texas

Did I say right wing? I meant incompetent radical left-wing eco-terrorist:

Former California resident Stephen James Murphy was taken into custody at his home in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, said FBI Los Angeles director Keith Bolcar in a release about the arrest.

Murphy was named in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles charging him with the 2006 attempted arson of unfinished townhouses in Pasadena, Calif., according to Bolcar.

On Sept. 19, 2006, the Pasadena Fire Department was called to the townhouse construction site after a "crude incendiary device" made out of cigarettes was discovered there, according to the complaint. The device failed to go off.

Construction workers couldn't start one of the tractors and noticed a message written in marker on the side that read, "ANOTHER TRACTOR DECOMMISSIONED BY THE E.L.F." — a reference to the Earth Liberation Front, an environmental extremist group.

Everything's a Nail: Lefty Blogger Blames Bush For Failure of Chicago Olympic Bid

It would be comedic if it wasn't so dead serious:

No doubt the President was sincere, but it's been quite a while since America has been "at its best," thanks to the Bush Administration. Why would anyone believe that the United States will indeed "make sure that all visitors would feel welcome," given our track record over the past eight years with regard to burdens placed on anyone who seeks a visa, the possibility of inquisitions (and being turned back) even upon arrival, vulnerability to "terrorist lists" that have a proven degree of unreliability, etc.? This is really a stunning rebuke of the United States, given the willingness of both Obamas to put themselves on the line. He's going to have to generate far more "change everyone can believe in" before the US will be chosen as a venue for an event like the Olympics (and properly so). And how confident can we be that he will be willing to take on the Glenn Becks, Rush Limbaughs, and other Republican demagogues (many of them in the House and the Senate) to reduce the burdens placed on foreign visitors?

Bush, Limbaugh and Beck... it's like they have a deflection template stored on their desktops that they can bring ready to blame their favorite bogeymen for any and all failures of the Administration, with fill-in-the-blank issues.

That much of the world considered Chicago a serious contender for the final two slots and only failed after the Obamas interjected themselves is a matter that the President's sycophants simply are not equipped to handle.

NOBAMA! Chicago Ousted in First Round of Olympic Voting

Via the Beeb:

1625: Well, isn't that a turn up for the books? Chicago are eliminated in the first round - cue audible gasps around the auditorium - and a second round of voting opens immediately.

CHICAGO DROPS OUT OF THE 2016 HOST CITY VOTING PROCESS

1623: The vote closes and the scrutineers are now checking the results. If there is no majority for one city, remember, the city with the least votes will drop out and another vote will take place.

1622: The first round of voting for the 2016 Olympic Games host city is declared open.

Incoming Media Reactions:
"...a stunning defeat for the city that was expected to be one of the two finalists..."

"...the "biggest shock in IOC history."

"...a surprisingly early exit..."

"...stunned silence..."

CNN, for their part, quickly buried their gushing (and now obviously inaccurate) Michelle Obama steals the show in Copenhagen

Update: Comment of the day (so far).

I hear when the IOC announced the first city out was Chicago, you can hear somebody in the room yelling, "YOU LIE!"

And finally, via Cuffy Meigs:

Women Had Sex with Letterman?

I think the extortionist picked the wrong target.

HOUSE AIDES: Public Option Making Comeback

Via a politically connected friend on Facebook:

Info from D.C. is that a public option has enough support to pass in the House. Blue Dogs caving and Black Caucus pushing hard on legislators for the public option. Plan is next week.

Is anyone else hearing the same sort of information?

Evil Right Wing Obama Assassination Pollster ID'd

Kinda hard to listen to Rush Limbaugh from the school cafeteria.

The Secret Service announced today that a juvenile was behind the Facebook posting that asked whether President Obama should be assassinated, calling it a prank that would not lead to prosecution.

The agency declined to release the juvenile's name, age or residence.

The latter decision is probably is a wise one not just simply because of the offender's age, but also because left wing zealots wanted him dead.

Obama's "Safe Schools Czar" Made Community Safe for Roman Polanski-type Pedophiles

That might not be entirely accurate. I'm pretty sure he didn't condone drugging them first, just men having sex with underage boys:

President Obama's "safe schools czar," under fire from critics who say he's unfit for his job, acknowledged Wednesday that he "should have handled [the] situation differently" years ago when he was a schoolteacher and didn't report that a 15-year-old boy told him that he was having sex with an older man.

Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, was teaching high school in Concord, Mass., in 1988 when the boy, a sophomore, confessed an involvement with a man he had met in a bus station bathroom in Boston. Jennings has written that he told the boy, "I hope you knew to use a condom."

In a statement issued Wednesday, Jennings said: "Twenty one years later I can see how I should have handled this situation differently. I should have asked for more information and consulted legal or medical authorities."

And now he thinks we should keep him an an authority?

i'm sorry, but a lack of discernment, judgment, and basic morality is inherent character flaw. Kevin Jennings is just another whackjob Obama czar that needs to be kicked to the curb.

Little Men

I have a confession: I don't know much about Glenn Beck. I've read about him here and there, I've seen clips of his show on other blogs, and may have caught a couple of segments of his show. All I can deduce about him is that his style doesn't particularly appeal to me, and so I don't watch him.

He's a populist and an entertainer and he has had some undeniable successes and I wish him well, but I don't think he is the major political player that some people do.

And by some people, I include the White House.

There is something truly odd and more than a little insecure about a Presidency that reduces the Administration and the Office of the President to quibbling with a self-described clown. Presidents should be above such petty matters as attacking a talk show personality, but our Real World: White House seems to interject itself into all sorts of trivial matters from the arrest of private citizens (Skp Gates) to spouting off about idiotic celebrities (Kanye West).

Don't we expect better from our Presidents?

Shouldn't we expect better from our Presidents, and their administrations?

We need an Administration that is more focused about serving the nation than protecting our President's fragile ego. We need a President that will spend more time with his top generals than David Letterman.

But we're not getting that. Barack Obama is instead submitting up to a pop-star Presidency as he flits from one network to another in search of approval.

Once the election is over, a President's job is to lead. Obama keeps campaigning, seeking approval.

Now more than ever we need a leader, and instead we are subjected to little men, squabbling over the scraps of fault.

1 Free Gun, 2 Classes, 5 Days: The FrontSight Training Package

So I mentioned briefly Tuesday that I was contacted by the staff at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute last week, inquiring into whether or not I might be interested in partnering with them for a promotional venture.

Guess what? I looked it over, and it seems like a good deal.

Without further procrastination, let's get to it.

Here is what Front Sight is offering.

Four Day Defensive Handgun Certificate that allows you to attend a $2,000 Four Day Defensive Handgun Course at any time in the future with no expiration date. Have better gun handling, marksmanship and tactical skills than 99% of the people who carry a gun for a living! Your shooting buddies will ask, "Where did you learn how to shoot like that?" You will proudly tell them, "Front Sight." Course Value: $2,000. Being the Best Shooter in your group of shooting buddies... Priceless!

One Day 30 State Concealed Weapon Permit Course that gives you all the training, paperwork signed off, finger prints, and certificates to apply for permits in FL, NV, and Utah. Reciprocity agreements in place allow you to carry a concealed handgun in 30 states. Course Value: $500. Comfort of being armed and trained to handle anything... Priceless!

All 7 Front Sight Dry Practice Manuals, each over 100 pages with photos of all the techniques we teach in our Four Day Defensive Handgun, Tactical Shotgun, Practical Rifle, Select Fire M16, Uzi Submachine Gun, Empty Hand Defense and Edged Weapons Courses. These manuals are your "Perfect Practice At Home Front Sight Instructor!" Manuals Value: $280. Ability to dry practice all the correct techniques and continue to improve your skills between courses... Priceless!

Limited Edition, Stainless Steel Folding Knife with Front Sight Logo etched in handle. You can't get this knife anywhere at any price. This is a special run of knives made specifically for this offer. If we sold a logo knife in our pro shop, which we don't, it would be priced at $300 or more. You get it as part of this package. Knife Value: $300. Cool factor when you whip it out to open a box, slice an apple, or dissuade an attacker... Priceless!

Front Sight Instructor Belt, Holster, Magazine Pouch, Flashlight Holder and Flashlight. All the right gear you need to wear on your belt for a Four Day Defensive Handgun Course. Gear Value: $230. Knowing you are outfitted for your first Front Sight course with the same gear the Front Sight Instructors wear... Priceless!

Front Sight Logo Armorer's Bench Mat. Neoprene bench mat measuring approximately 16" x 12" featuring the Front Sight logo and exploded view disassembly diagrams for the 1911 pistol, Glock pistol, and AR-15 Rifle on it. Armorer's Bench Mat Value: $40. Having a Front Sight padded mat to clean and work on your guns... Priceless!

Front Sight "Any Gun Will Do-- If You Will Do" Logo Shirt. I have had so many reports of people seeing our students proudly wearing their Front Sight shirts all over the country. Our students wear them to shooting ranges, gun shows, rock concerts, Disneyland and even church! You too will enjoy proudly flying Front Sight's colors. Shirt Value: $30. Wearing it to your liberal brother-in-law's house party... Priceless!

Front Sight Logo Hat. Perfect accessory item to wear with or without your Front Sight shirt. Keeps the sun out of your eyes and your mind in Condition Yellow (If you don't know what Condition Yellow is you REALLY need to take a course with us!) Hat Value: $20. The acknowledging nod you get from other gun owners when they see you wearing it... Priceless!

Right there I think that Front Sight has a week's worth of experience lined up a a reasonable price, but the other previously-mentioned take home prize makes the deal even sweeter.

Yes, your very own Springfield Armory XD, in your choice of 9mm, .40 S& W, or .45 ACP.

I've made no secret that I'm a fan of the XD, and Front Sight will give you one once you are enrolled.

Folks, this is one great offer.

What should you expect to get out of this investment in your shooting skills?

The ability to draw from a concealed holster and put a controlled pair of shots to the target's thoracic cavity from 3-5 yards away, in less than 1.5 seconds.

Folks, that is strong. Admittedly, I can't do that now. Can you?

I'm hoping that you will consider signing up.

With competence comes confidence.