The contents are based on Fact and Truth. Challenges are invited.
The day’s top political news:
Obama retreats on climate change
President Barack Obama and other world leaders agreed today that next month's much-anticipated climate change summit will be merely a way station, not the end point, in the search for a worldwide treaty to accommodate Al Gore’s fantasies.
The 192-nation climate conference beginning in three weeks in Copenhagen had originally been intended to produce a new global climate-change treaty. Hopes for that have dimmed lately.
Comments by Obama and fellow leaders at a hastily arranged breakfast meeting here on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit served to put the final nail in any remaining expectations for the December summit.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_13794389
Al Gore's presentation on climate change draws 800 as 200 protestors gather outside
The former vice president spoke on climate change at the Mizner Park Amphitheater to a crowd of about 800. More than 200 protesters gathered across the street from the event, and their boos and chants could be heard inside the amphitheater as Gore began his presentation.
Gore has become arguably the world's most famous advocate for what supporters claim is “curbing carbon emissions”, gaining eco-celebrity status with a film on the subject and winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 as Obama did before doing much of anything,.
Gore began his remarks by calling climate change "the most dangerous problem we've ever faced. But it is also a tremendous opportunity for us to solve problems that have been neglected for a long time." Political scams abound…especially among liberals.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/gore-s-presentation-on-climate-change-draws-800-59205.html
Democrats at risk of losing Obama's old Senate seat
About a year ago, thousands jammed Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's election to the White House, a communal civic defining moment. But those giddy days are long gone as Democrats in Illinois face the potential of losing the Senate seat President Obama held in next November’s election..
The Illinois primary is Feb. 2, and the Democrat and Republican races are ripening, with the deadlines to file or withdraw nominating petitions now passed. Democratic Party leaders in Washington -- and the Obama White House -- failed to recruit a candidate strong enough to scare Rep. Mark Kirk -- the Republicans' best bet -- from the race. The only luck they had was the decision by Sen. Roland Burris -- appointed by now-indicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill Obama's remaining term -- not to run to keep the seat.
The chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois -- Michael J. Madigan, the speaker of the Illinois House -- is the father of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who rebuffed Obama and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee when they wooed her for the Senate. Papa Madigan, more concerned with keeping his state House majority, doesn't really care who the senator is.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1884123,CST-NWS-sweet15.article
Opinion:
Palin and her book tour
Being a book author these days isn’t easy. In fact, if you do it right, it's very hard work.
First, you have to have something to say that people want to hear. Usually publishers will demand full accountability – a euphemistic term that actually means authors are often expected to “spill their guts” and do hatchet jobs on former friends and relatives.
Consider the process a journalistic colonoscopy.
Forget the whole thing if you don’t have an agent. They are advance men who root out potential publishers and cut a deal on proceeds and requirements for such sales chores as public appearances.
It also takes a large amount of patience if the author does his or her own writing. That is seldom the case for high profile authors such as Sarah Palin.
In the case of that other celebrity author, Barack Obama, it seems his books were ghost written by unrepentant domestic terrorist, William Ayers – during the campaign, Obama claimed Ayers was “just some guy in the neighborhood”. Of course we all know Obama’s dismissive response was a bald faced lie. Obama even kicked off his campaign in the home of Ayers and his wife – herself a renowned terrorist back during the Viet Nam era.
But Obama and truth have a very tangential relationship to say the very least.
Analysts find revealing passages from Obama’s books and writings of Ayers. Unlikely a coincidence. Ayers did a pretty good job since the books helped launch the Obama career in politics.
The process provides a glimpse into how complete a process bosses in the Chicago Democrat Machine are willing to go to create a candidate. “Substance? We don’t need no stinking substance,”
But this is Sarah Palin’s week.
She sat down with Oprah, a strange launch site to say the least, and carefully selected tidbits have been leaked to begin the sales push.
Not that much push is needed. Even before the Palin book hits the shelves, it ranks high on the Book Sales popularity lists, and sales are beyond “brisk”. Conservative groups are using the Palin book to raise funding, increase name lists, and generate Christmas sales activity.
Of course revelations of conflict between the Palin Vice Presidential campaign and that of Presidential Candidate John McCain are headlined. There were probably many juicy stories there. Conflict always visits such campaign alliances. Internally there are on-going struggles to gain credit, and avoid guilt, and the candidates are caught somewhere in the middle.
It didn’t help that McCain produced a string of absurd actions that drove those of us who supported the campaign from afar, up the wall, time and time again. I had a potential avenue into the campaign and my emails, I’m sure, rubbed McCain campaign sensitivities a bit raw.
What was far more distasteful – make that outrageous – for me, was the extreme corruption of the mainstream media demonstrated in coverage of the Palin campaign. The coverage set new definitions for “hatchet jobs”. It was dishonest, it was laced with lies, and it left a stain on American journalism that will not fade soon.
It shouldn’t fade at all. It was as despicable as it gets ,,, and more.
Palin had a great opening act. Her convention speech was a major McCain campaign highlight. That success story obviously left McCain campaign operatives with emotions that ranged from giddy to outraged. Jealousy was evident. McCain’s personal campaigning was never close to being as successful as Palin’s first speech.
Palin displayed a political ability that struck terror in the hearts of Democrat operatives. They recognized immediately that Palin had a natural ability to hit the right notes – despite a few missteps such as her performance in an interview by Katy Couric.
Of course, Joe Biden provided far more and far worse performances than Palin and became “the gift that keeps on giving” for GOP political operatives. Joe gave us a reprise of “Dumb and Dumber”.
But as with other Obama vulnerabilities, in the mainstream media, “the fix was in” and never was heard a discouraging word when Obama was onstage.
Palin was a political threat for Democrats, and they responded by pulling all the stops in going after her, smearing her (and her family), and creating myths and lies that even expanded usual political dirty tricks.
In journalistic in-speak, the mainstream media “did a job” on Palin. Conspiracy was obvious. But what else is new?
Palin’s decision to suddenly step down as Alaska’s governor was a strange action, but I suspect it reflected a decision to stop the unfair and slanderous attacks on Palin, her daughter, husband, and even her handicapped grandchild.
It’s hard to blame her.
Shamefully, the media hit job succeeded, and, as disgraceful as it was and is, it created scars that remain. Such scars may not be subject to healing.
The entire story is shameful as it gets, yet there is no effective countering action since liberal Democrats dominate the media, and remain terrified of Palin and remain intent on her destruction.
Sarah Palin will sell a lot of books. She will raise a lot of money – much of it going to conservative Republican efforts to defeat Democrats and end their threat.
I’m pessimistic regarding a Palin presidential run. Not just her chances in the campaign, but the treatment she and her administration would get in the White House. Not only is Palin denied honest coverage – even – but that coverage is as shot through with bigotry, resentment, and virulence as is possible. In the past several decades “honest journalism” has become an oxymoron.
Palin might be able to stand against it, but the odds are with the liberal media conspirators, Life isn’t always fair – especially for political ”rogues”
Buddy
The day’s top blogs:
1.
Radical 9/11 Cleric Linked to Fort Hood Shooter: Nidal Hasan is a Hero
Morgen
It was reported Saturday before last that the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hasan, attended the same mosque in Great Falls, Virginia in 2001 as two of the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks. From the Telegraph:
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan’s eyes “lit up” when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki’s teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday’s horrific shooting spree.
Al-Awlaki, who is now based in Yemen, commented on the shootings on a blog posting with the heading “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing“:
Nidal Hassan [sic] is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.
Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.
The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community.
Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right -rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.
I have a hard time even imagining the level of depravity and moral bankruptcy necessary to view the cold-blooded massacre of unarmed men and women as an act of heroism. It’s an act of cowardice, and Al-Awlaki is a sick and evil man. He is an enemy of this country.
You know, I spent much of this weekend defending the rights of Muslim Americans against attacks by regular commenters on this blog – people that I normally agree with. And I still fervently believe that Muslim Americans who desire to live here in peace, respecting our laws and traditions, are entitled to the same Constitutional rights to religious freedom and personal liberty as any other citizen. And I also believe that the majority of Muslims living in the U.S. fall into this category.
But anyone who has empathy on any level for the actions of Hasan, or the views expressed by Al-Awlaki, does not deserve to be an American as far as I’m concerned.
Al-Awlaki closes his post with this:
The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.
Somehow I don’t think al-Awlaki is all that concerned about American hostility towards Islam. Not when he is openly celebrating the murder of innocents and calling for other Muslim service members to follow in Hasan’s steps. I hope any of his remaining followers in the U.S. promptly heed his call to leave. And that they are being tracked very closely by the F.B.I. as long as they are still here.
As for al-Awlaki, it’s hard not to hope that there is a rendition in his future (or better yet a Predator Hellfire missile), before he inspires or plots the murder of any other Americans. And God bless the real heroes in this tragedy.
ALSO:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/america_hater_in_qns_hails_hood_HvD7Z20qSwe9dp4obu8L7L
America-hater in Qneens. hails Hood massacre
JOHN DOYLE in Fort Hood, Texas, and JANON FISHER in NY
The soldiers at Fort Hood had it coming, says a radical Muslim in Queens who travels to mosques around the city spreading anti-American hate and has sent a "Get Well Soon" message to the major behind the Texas massacre.
"An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a pre-emptive attack," Yousef al-Khattab wrote on his Web site, called "Revolution Muslim." "Get well soon Major Nidal. We love you."
In the twisted logic of al-Khattab, who was born Jewish in New Jersey and converted to Islam in 2004, the 13 slain and 38 wounded Army victims gunned down by the radical one-man sleeper cell were "terrorists" who deserved to die.
2.
Obama can't be bothered by Islamic terrorism
RALPH PETERS
In the wake of the terrorist strike on our soldiers at Fort Hood, one individual’s still missing in action: Our commander in chief. The massacre’s 51 casualties, including 13 dead, were insufficient to drag President Obama away from the White House Happy Hour.
We just saw the worst terror attack on America since 9/11. And Obama couldn’t adjust his schedule to support our grieving troops.
Instead, we got his subtle defense of the perp: Unwilling to use the word “terror,” let alone the phrase “Islamist terror,” Obama warned us not to “rush to judgment.”
A Muslim fanatic, known to the FBI as a fan of suicide bombers and to colleagues as an opponent of our government, coolly buys weapons, heads to a military facilityhe knows will be packed with unsuspecting soldiers, waits for the crowd to thicken, then shouts, “Allah is great!” and guns down 51 patriots, calmly reloading among the dead and dying.
But don’t rush to judgment.
Imagine if, instead of Fort Hood, the massacre had gone down at a mosque in Detroit — carried out by a maddened Christian or Jew. Obama would’ve been aboard Air Force One before the pilots had time to file a flight plan and he would’ve been on site before the gun smoke cleared, hugging and boo-hooing and dispensing stirring rhetoric for the evening news.
But go out of his way to rally our butchered troops? Not a chance. It’s not like they’re real human beings with Ivy League degrees. When Obama got word of the attack, he didn’t even lose his fabled cool.
Obama may be shamed into visiting Ft. Hood at some point, but his priority since Thursday has remained socializing American medicine. What happens in Texas, stays in Texas.
Move on? Yes we can!
Of course, this act of Islamist terrorism has been an inconvenience to a president whose administration insists there’s no such thing. Those dead and wounded soldiers are such an embarrassment. If only a Baptist or Lutheran had been the shooter, things would’ve been so much tidier.
What’s next? The White House is going to bring heavy pressure on the FBI, through Attorney General Eric Holder, to play down investigative results confirming that Maj. Nidal Hasan was motivated by his Muslim beliefs.
Instead, we’ll hear even more about the “harassment” Hasan suffered as the media toe the line laid down by the vile lead editorial in Saturday’s New York Times and how this calculating terrorist contracted PTSD from his patients.
Let me kill the harassment myth right now: Political correctness rules in today’s Army. We even protect our enemies these days. Had any soldier harassed Hasan because of his Islamist nuttiness, that soldier would’ve disappeared faster than a Franklin on a Times Square sidewalk.
Any snarky remarks directed toward Hasan — if there were any — would’ve come in reaction to his railing against our government, our military’s mission and the monstrous injustice that, after grabbing an education in psychiatry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from our military, he might have had to do his duty.
Far from being harassed himself, this creep was allowed to harass the soldiers he treated for stress disorders. According to colleagues, Hasan not only argued with his patients about our wars, but preached Islam to those under his care. (Just what troubled vets needed, no doubt.)
Prejudice? You bet. In this terrorist’s favor. Nobody in Hasan’s chain of command had the sense of duty to weed this pervert out. Why? Hasan would’ve accused them of discrimination. And the officer who brought charges against Hasan would’ve been the one whose career suffered.
Since writing on this travesty in the Post and speaking out on Fox News, I’ve been deluged with supportive messages — many from soldiers outraged at the politically correct treatment of this terrorist by the media, by senior military leaders — and by the president.
How many more Americans have to die, at home and in war, before our president admits that there is, indeed, such a thing as Islamist terror? Will he ever admit that it played a role in the tragedy at Fort Hood?
Not a chance. Islam’s a religion of peace. America’s the problem. And don’t you forget it.
Ralph Peters' latest book is "The War After Armageddon."
3.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115277
Confirmed: Buy insurance or go to jail
'This is ultimate example of Dems command-and-control government'
Bob Unruh
World NetDaily
A Michigan congressman has released a report from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation confirming that the House Democrats' health-care bill could impose penalties of up to $250,000 in fines and five years in jail for failing to buy the proper insurance coverage.
"This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail," said U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.
"It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately," he said today.
The letter of confirmation from the Joint Committee on Taxation was signed by Chief of Staff Thomas Barthold. His analysis confirmed individuals who fail to follow the rules actually could be penalized both with civil and criminal punishments.
"The Code provides for both civil and criminal penalties to ensure complete and accurate reporting of tax liability and to discourage fraudulent attempts to defeat or evade tax," Barthold's letter said. "Civil and criminal penalties are applied separately.
"Thus, a taxpayer convicted of a criminal tax offense may be subject to both criminal and civil penalties, and a taxpayer acquitted of a criminal tax offense may nonetheless be subject to civil tax penalties."
He continued, "In cases involving both criminal and civil penalties, the IRS generally does not pursue both simultaneously, but delays pursuit of civil penalties until the criminal proceedings have concluded."
Among the possible penalties available, he said, were:
• Under Section 6662(a), 20 percent of an underpayment attributable to health care tax
• Section 6663, a fraud penalty of 75 percent of the underpayment
• Section 6702, a $5,000 penalty for taking a frivolous position on a tax return
• Section 6651, a delinquency penalty of .5 percent under the underpayment, each month
• Section 7203, a fine of $25,000 or jail up to one year
• Section 7201, a fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
According to Camp, the JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain "acceptable health insurance coverage" and who choose not to pay the bill's new individual mandate tax "are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminals fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years."
He noted the Senate Finance Committee earlier worked on language that would shield Americans from such problems.
"Speaker Pelosi's decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates," Camp said. "Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare."
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the lowest cost family non-group plan under Pelosi's health-care plan would cost $15,000 in 2016.
The health-care plan has been in the works for months but has been opposed by the GOP for a variety of reasons, including abortion coverage and the huge tax increases forecast to go along with it.
The president has had difficulty lining up support even among Democrats, because many moderates oppose the mandated abortion funding in the plan.
Thousands of American citizens rallied in Washington Thursday against the proposal, and WND editor Joseph Farah urged citizens who could not attend the rally to send "pink slips" to every member of Congress.
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said Americans sent a crucial message to Congress with the rally, making it clear that they do not support the Democrats' health reform.
"We Republicans can't stop the passage," she said. "But with resistance from the American people, I am fully confident it can be defeated."
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