Political Truth and Fact

Tuesday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

The WikiLeak espionage case is not a First Amendment case – lives are at stake

Many Years ago during target study for my SAC B-47 combat crew, I was shocked to see an article from a well-known magazine stamped “Top Secret”.  My Aircraft Commander explained that context was involved. The mere fact such an article was included in a SAC target study could tip off Soviet Intelligence to what our specific target was and, thus, how they could better plan to intercept and shoot us down.  The importance of materials can be modified by extraneous matters not readily apparent. Thus negative discussions about the WikiLeaks  disclosure of secret or confidential materials, is clearer than editors and commentators might understand.  They don’t have an ability to judge such matters. 

Neither does anti-American conspirator, Julian Assange, who is irresponsibly dumping classified materials into public news outlets.  Even if his motives and those of editors who reprint the materials, were pure, neither Assange nor the editors are competent to judge.  Neither are they competent to understand the potential damage his journalistic vandalism may cause – especially how many lives may be lost because of the revelations.

Those who attempt First Amendment arguments in the case simply don’t get it.  They are dead wrong, and their reasoning flawed by an obvious ignorance of what is at stake. 

The WikiLeaks story cannot be justified, and those involved in the theft, release, and publication of such material should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  National security is involved, and how it is involved may well be quite beyond the understanding of people outside those for whom the materials were intended.  First Amendment considerations take second place when our nation’s security is at stake.

Of course, Julian Assange doesn’t care about this nation’s security.  He is on a malicious mission with nothing more than inflicting as much damage as possible on this country in his calculations.  A full investigation of the affair should be giving top priority.  However, Attorney General Eric Holder is probably among the weaker characters to whom such a mission might be assigned.

An enlisted man who had access to such materials is being held in the case.  He should be charged with treason – as if that charge has any meaning these days.  Former prosecutors caution that cases involving leaked classified information are difficult to win because the Espionage Act is a 1917 statute passed before more liberal Supreme Court cases expanded First Amendment protections.

For his part,  Assange, tells ABC News through emails from a hideout, that he believes his safety and freedom are in danger.  Yet he remains undaunted and says the material dumps are aimed at "lying, corrupt and murderous leadership from Bahrain to Brazil."

"We're only one thousandth of the way in and look at what has so far being revealed, says Assange, “there will be many more," he defiantly proclaims.

Suggestions the First Amendment should protect aliens such as Assange who act so maliciously, and who show a total lack of concern for the lives the information endangers, are ridiculous. We are at war with brutal and savage enemies who, as we learn from our most recent domestic terror case, care nothing about American lives – even the lives of innocent children.

Perhaps Assange’s case should be assigned to clandestine “black ops” groups who act without worrying about legal niceties.  We are at war, after all, and the courtroom is no place in which war should be conducted. 

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Obama calls for 2-year freeze on federal pay, Hoyer wants Military included

President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a two-year freeze of the salaries of some 2 million federal workers, trying to seize the deficit-cutting initiative from Republicans with a sudden, dramatic stroke. Though signaling White House concern over record deficits, the freeze would make only a tiny dent in annual deficits or the nation's $14 trillion debt.The administration said the plan was designed to save more than $5 billion over the first two years.

The proposal, which must be approved by Congress, would not apply to the military, but it would affect all others on the Executive Branch payroll. It would not affect members of Congress or

However, Hoyer says Military should also see pay freeze. The second-ranking House Democrat says President Obama’s freeze of the pay of civilian federal employees should also be extended to military personnel. Hoyer (D-Md.) said including the military would have increased savings and add “an element of fairness."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/130933-hoyer-military-should-also-see-pay-freeze

AP-CNBC Poll: Cut services to balance the budget

To ease surging budget deficits, Americans prefer cutting federal services to raising taxes by nearly 2-1 in a new poll. Yet there is little consensus on specific, meaningful steps — and a wariness about touching two gargantuan programs, Social Security and Medicare.

An Associated Press-CNBC Poll showed widespread anxiety about budget shortfalls exceeding $1 trillion a year. Eighty-five percent worry that growing red ink will harm future generations — the strongest expression of concern since AP polls began asking the question in 2008. Fifty-six percent think the shortfalls will spark a major economic crisis in the coming decade.

As for detailed cures, the poll shows little agreement — a problem that has long bedeviled lawmakers who often speak about taming federal deficits but seldom vote to do so. Given more than a dozen options for helping balance the budget, majorities backed just four: Reduce the number of federal workers, trim their salaries, cut overseas military bases and eliminate the tax deduction on home mortgage interest in exchange for lower income tax rates.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_ap_poll_taming_budget_deficits;_ylt=AhyVDeskSSw9xz97zjxc7i.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQ1NGpzMHQxBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMTMwL3VzX2FwX3BvbGxfdGFtaW5nX2J1ZGdldF9kZWZpY2l0cwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzIEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9o

U.S. scrambles to contain WikiLeaks damage

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and other officials shrug off the undiplomatic assessments revealed in the diplomatic cables, saying they won't affect long-term ties, even as they promise to tighten security and punish the culprits.

The massive leak of secret diplomatic cables sent a tremor from Washington through world capitals Monday, exposing deception and scheming that world leaders take great pains to keep private and complicating some of America's most sensitive strategic relations.

Release of the cables by the WikiLeaks website Sunday shocked a culture built on the expectation that candid discussions should remain exactly that — amounting, in the words of the Italian foreign minister, to the "Sept. 11 of world diplomacy." Diplomats and world leaders said the revelations probably would make them less forthcoming in their discussions and their reports back home, a development that could make it more difficult to manage policy and head off problems. There were indications that the leak could cause a backlash in countries vital to U.S. interests, such as Pakistan and Yemen.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fg-wikileaks-20101130,0,5194592.story

 

 

Monday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Today's Republicans Obligated to defend Lincoln's vision

Today begins the death throes of a liberal Democrat government , the arrogance of which is directly contradicts that cited in Lincoln’s Gettysburg.  Lincoln noted those who died at Gettsburg sacrificed: “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Today’s liberal Democrats – especially those spawned by the Obama Administration, find little in Lincoln’s speech with which they honestly agree. They are wired differently.

For one thing, liberals, led by the calculating and conspiratorial efforts of the ACLU, are no doubt highly offended by Lincoln’s reference to this “nation under God”.  Obama himself has rhetorically objected to such a concept.  Today, atheist liberals consciously act to offend Christians and other people of Faith. Their extremism and outright bigotry is readily accommodated by the current federal government and many within its judiciary.

Brace yourself for the annual assault by liberals on cities and towns wishing to celebrate Christmas with manger scenes and the like.  In fact, atheistic liberals even object to exchanging “Merry Christmas”. 

Whatever happened to majority rules? The ACLU is as much a bigoted extremist group as the old KKK.  (For the record, membership of both groups is entirely Democrat)

Sadly, the watery gruel of liberal conviction reaches beyond the holidays. 

Under the Obama Administration, buttressed by majorities in both Houses, Republicans had little hope of successfully resisting the far left agenda of Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Obama’s “people”.  Americans found themselves virtually under the thumb of the very government the founding fathers intended to be their servant.

Capitol Hill squandered the people’s money, and did so to pay for things the people didn’t even want. 

The arrogance of liberal Democrats led to other government action that sneered at what the American people wanted or were willing to accept.  Under Pelosi, legislative efforts became an imposition of radical ideas and concepts.

Thus we have Obamacare.

These days, liberals struggle to salvage their health scheme by picking and choosing individual elements that are least objectionable.  So far, Republicans remain adamant that cherry picking provisions of the bill is a total non-sequitur.  Americans want Obamacare rejected and repealed.  All of it. While many people yearn for honest reform of our health care, Obama care isn’t the honest reform they want. A majority oppose Obamacare.  All of it.

The bill was imposed by Pelosi and her liberal allies…government leaders who maintain they know best what is good for the American people – even if the people don’t agree.

Substantial majorities of Americans reject illegal immigration.  They recognize the huge degree to which illegal aliens rip off the country, add to its criminal culture, and constitute serious security risks.  Opposition isn’t to immigration.  It’s focused on illegal immigration – people who choose to make criminals of themselves.

Democrats don’t care.  They support Obama’s challenge of Arizona’s immigration law because they believe illegals can be used to create another Democrat voting bloc. 

Cap and Trade is another liberal conspiracy against normal Americans.  It is a huge sub-rosa tax mechanism that would also bring monumental increases in the prices of necessities.

Over the past two years, Democrats have rejected the intentions and the warnings of our founding fathers.  Under Obama and his Democrat co-conspirators, America finds itself ruled by “government by decree” – and more than 30 Obama “Czars” provide cadre support for the extremism, while the mainstream media – long under Obama’s spell – provide cover

Republicans were recently swept into office as counterpoints to Democrats. The GOP is the only alternative, after all.  It is now up to Republicans to prove themselves protectors of Lincoln’s vision of government…not just another version of Demcrats.

If they are tempted to stray, it would be wise to reprise news reports of the summer of 2009.   That’s a point in which a monumental shift in the tectonic plates of the nation’s politics occurred.

In town hall after town hall, grass root Americans became activists and rose up against liberal Democrats and shouted down Democrat arrogance.  Spurred on by Internet blogs and email exchanges, ordinary American, most of them never politically active before, began making their voices heard.

Nancy Pelosi was dismissive, and the far left media did all it could to minimize the impact.

But the political bell could not be un-rung.   The winds of freedom were stirring.  In mid-term voting, Democrats learned a bitter lesson – one from which they may not soon recover.

Let us pray Republicans grasp the reality.  They must understand the way things have worked on Capitol Hill, is not necessarily they way they work now.  If they fail to heed the change and thus become defenders of the new freedom, they will no doubt soon become its victim.  “The folks at home” are no longer satisfied with nifty web sites and occasional news letters.  Today, grass root America intends to be part of the process…one intent on preservation of “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” and making certain such government as that “shall not perish from the earth.”

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Leaking of Secret U.S. Cables Sparks Crisis Within Diplomatic Circles

A large batch of secret American diplomatic cables over the past three years offers an unusual look at back-channel discussions by embassies around the world, unflattering views of world leaders and stark evaluations of nuclear and terrorist threats, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The disclosures in the Times and four other major world news organizations could fuel a worldwide diplomacy crisis with the United States at its center. "It is nothing short of a political meltdown for U.S. foreign policy," said Der Spiegel, the German publication that, like The Times, obtained the secret cables.

The White House condemned the disclosure of classified documents and released a statement Sunday saying, in part: "We anticipate release of what are claimed to be several hundred thousand classified State Department cables on Sunday night that detail diplomatic discussions with foreign governments. By its very nature, field reporting to Washington is candid and often incomplete information. It is not an expression of policy, nor does it shape final policy decisions." The statement acknowledged that the cables could "compromise private discussions with foreign governments and opposition leaders,'' and warned that the disclosures put diplomats and intelligence and other officials at risk.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/28/leaking-of-secret-u-s-cables-sparks-diplomacy-crisis/?ncid=webmail

Obama’s deficit commission – was it doomed from the start?

Whether President Barack Obama’s deficit commission can surmount the fundamental differences that have stymied it for months will determine which legacy it is known for. The commission, which is scheduled to hold its final meeting Tuesday, will report to the president the next day.

One Democratic commission member said over the weekend that the past week of consultations “has made some good progress. I think we’re going to surprise some people.” But that member said that getting a 14 vote majority of the commission’s 18 members, which Democratic congressional leaders have promised would trigger a vote on the package, “is going to really limit the ground that could be agreed on.”

Bruce Reed, the commission’s executive director, professes to be upbeat. “The members are still working very hard to get a substantial package,” he said recently. “I really believe we’ve got a chance.” But it’s hard to ignore months of gloomy pronouncements from bitterly divided commission members, who accuse each other of refusing to compromise, at the same time that they themselves vow no compromise on raising taxes (the Republicans) or cutting Social Security (the Democrats).

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45657.html#ixzz16g7XBCMO

U.S. Congress returns to a Lame Duck Session with long to-do list

U.S. lawmakers face a lengthy to-do list, topped by a dispute over expiring tax cuts, when they return to work today in a session that offers an early gauge of the chances for bipartisanship when the new Congress convenes in January. The first test of the post-election relationship between President Barack Obama and newly powerful Republican congressional leaders will come at a White House meeting on Tuesday, which is likely to focus on the tax-cut debate.

Republicans have demanded all the Bush-era tax cuts, which expire at the end of the year, be permanently extended. Obama and many Democrats want to make the cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year permanent, but would let taxes increase for wealthier Americans.

The tax clash promises to be an early test for Obama and Republicans, who take control of the House of Representatives in January after gaining 63 seats in November's elections. Republicans also gained strength in the Senate, where Democrats will retain a majority in the new Congress.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AS0WZ20101129

 

Sunday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Immigration – a crisis we cant ignore

Immigration reform is a goal for many – a serious national threat for others.  There is a fear among substantial segments of the population that far left proponents of open borders will succeed in their objective.  The success of such a conspiracy would not only result in masses of un-defined aliens – many of them criminal – but would also threaten the creation of another bloc of voters who will heavily favor Democrats and their far left agenda.

If Obama has achieved nothing else, he has proven a vast majority of Americans find socialism and the approach to government it represents, not only undesirable, but highly so. 

A majority of Americans reject the concept of “amnesty” for illegals already here – a mass that may reach 14 million.  Granting citizenship for such people – admitted lawbreakers – would be a slap in the face to those immigrants who play by the rules and, therefore, are more likely to be productive, law-abiding, citizens.

John McCain made a major error in sponsoring an amnesty bill some years back.  He compounded that error by choosing as co-sponsor, the late Democrat Senator from Massachusetts, Teddy Kennedy.  Teddy was no doubt popular on Capitol Hill and in his home state, and may have been skilled in moving legislation through the process, but his name was a kiss of death – a clear signal of far left extremism. The amnesty bill was stricken from the start, and shouted down by an angry population that just gained new power through the Internet.

The wide-spread antipathy toward amnesty leads to assumptions that many attempts at reform are actually amnesty under some sort of cover.  That fact means a successful reform measure will almost have to include some specific anti-amnesty reference in its title.

Republicans, having just been swept into office, must now wrestle with finding a reasonable approach to immigration reform – one that doesn’t even sniff of amnesty.

It is a difficult challenge.

For one thing, the status, aims, and reality of immigration these days is in conflict with the rosy sentiments associated with such symbols as the Statue of Liberty.

It must be made clear that opposition to illegal immigration, is totally separate to legal immigration.  The welcome mat remains out for those willing to play by the rules.

However, major points of opposition are directed at two specific groups: Muslims, and illegals streaming across our southern border.  Muslims, along with Asians, who enter the country illegally pay up to $50,000 each to sneak in.

While a majority of Muslims are peaceful and capable of making positive contributions to society, radical Islam taints the population. European nations, especially Great Britain, have learned a bitter lesson in trying to accommodate massive Islamic immigration.  In some areas of the UK, Muslims are operating under their own Sharia law – a system totally alien to American ideals.

The other immigration problem on our southern border gets worse daily.  Not only are there the usual problems regarding security and costs inherent among illegals, but Mexican drug gangs are making our border as much a combat area as Iraq and Afghanistan.  People are getting slaughtered in huge numbers, and the violence is spilling over into this country.

In addition to the drug gangs and their current violence, there are threats from the Mexican Reconquista movement.  As Frank Burke points out in “The Dangerous Mythology of Immigration”, the list of organizations includes such groups as “the National Will Organization, Mexica movement, and La Voz de Aztlan.  Their goals speak seriously of reclaiming land lost by Mexico in the Mexican or with high Hispanic populations. These would include California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and Colorado.”

Democrats, however, dismiss such problems as they pursue of their goal of gaining another bloc of voters. The left has always had a distorted view of the immigration process.  As Burke concludes on his article, “The wishful thinking that all nations are somehow equal and that we all desire the same things is naïve on the face of it and deadly in its implementation. The individual who murders his daughter in an honor killing; the family that celebrates the martyrdom of children who destroyed themselves while killing innocent people; or the tribe whose members practice genocide against its neighbors are not going to be satisfied with a good job, a nice house, education for their children, and a wide-screen HDTV.” 

Burke correctly concludes: “Those who project a rosy vision of world brotherhood play into the hands of fanatics. Our concern for others, including future immigrants, will be best-demonstrated in securing our borders and insuring our survival as the seat of freedom.”

We must solve immigration’s challenge – not because it would be nice to do so, but because in one way or another, the issue threatens our future and that of America.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Doctors say Medicare cuts force painful decision about elderly patients

Doctors across the country are complaining that they've been forced to shift away from Medicare toward higher-paying, privately insured or self-paying patients in response to years of penny-pinching by Congress. And that's not even taking into account a long-postponed rate-setting method that is on track to slash Medicare's payment rates to doctors by 23 percent Dec. 1. Known as the Sustainable Growth Rate and adopted by Congress in 1997, it was intended to keep Medicare spending on doctors in line with the economy's overall growth rate. But after the SGR formula led to a 4.8 percent cut in doctors' pay rates in 2002, Congress has chosen to put off the ever steeper cuts called for by the formula ever since.

This month, the Senate passed its fourth stopgap fix this year - a one-month postponement that expires Jan. 1. The House is likely to follow suit when it reconvenes next week, and physicians have already been running print ads, passing out fliers to patients and flooding Capitol Hill with phone calls to convince Congress to suspend the 25 percent rate cut that the SGR method will require next year.

Among the top points of contention is the complaint by doctors that Medicare's payment rate has not kept pace with the growing cost of running a medical practice. As measured by the government's Medicare Economic Index, those expenses rose 18 percent from 2000 to 2008. During the same period, Medicare's physician fees rose 5 percent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/25/AR2010112503638.html

Senate to hold series of critical votes on the “War on Food” bill Monday

S. 510 faces hearings Monday. Conservatives claim the measure opens floodgates for “tyrannical federal bureaucrats” to crush the food industry’s small businesses.

The bill’s proponents suggest that a few provisions totally address concerns of small-scale farmers, but closer examination reveals the FDA acquires even more power to shut down family farms on a whim.

Opponents contend S. 510 will drive up the costs of food production by adding more layers of government interference. The bill empowers federal agencies to impose international guidelines and standards on domestic food producers - molding American food production into an unhealthy globalist Codex system.

The bill is sponsored by far left Democrat, Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Chris Dodd (D-CT) among others. “Nuff said”

http://mail.aol.com/32945-111/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspx

Detroit Suburb asks to file for bankruptcy

From the WSJ: Facing a $3 million deficit on its $18 million budget, the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck is seeking permission to file bankruptcy. Other towns may not be far behind.

Hamtramck began running million-dollar deficits 10 years ago due to union contracts “that would make Greeks blush”. City workers were entitled to annual wage increases at four times the inflation rate and eight paid weeks of vacation each year. That's in addition to 15 paid sick days, three paid emergency leave days, three paid personal days and one paid birthday.

The city has asked its unions for concessions, to no avail. So Mr. Cooper has now asked the state for permission to declare bankruptcy—the only way the city can force the unions to renegotiate their contracts. Michigan has never allowed a city to declare bankruptcy, and soon-to-depart Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm isn't eager to oppose her union supporters.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704104104575622980958139348.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

 

Saturday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Government must understand, the American people can be pushed only so far, patted-down to only some extreme, and ignored only so long

The gloomy nature of our economy is about the only thing getting more ink these days than the aggressive pat-downs and radiation-emitting screenings at the nation’s airport. 

Officials at Homeland Security had best check recent history as they go about  their bureaucratic dealings with air passengers.  These are ordinary Americans who are mad and getting madder.  They will only allow their government to go so far, push them to some limits, and they all have a line in the sand that will provide a defiant “no more”.

People in Washington are among the last to get the word things have changed in the country.  Washington can no longer count on people obeying when unpopular decisions are made.  Americans are no longer sheep. Profiling can help ease the screening problem, and anticipated opposition by groups such as the ACLU, might even generate support for the TSA. 

(A lot of people have had enough of the insanity of political correctness.)

The current power of public reaction was effectively demonstrated when the infamous Kennedy-McCain Immigration Bill – with its amnesty provision – was shouted down.  That bill had the enthusiastic backing of the Bush White House, the US Senate, and, most of all, the mainstream media.  But the American public hated it.

The bill had to be withdrawn.  Outrage voiced through emails and Internet chat rooms, played a major role in the surrender of the establishment in that case.  No substitute has been offered.  Meanwhile, challenges to Arizona’s immigration law run against the will of huge majorities – including 70% of the people of Arizona.  (Since Anglo support accounts for no more than 50%, a lot of Hispanics support that bill as well.)

Obama sneers at public opinion once more, and continues the challenge.

Spontaneous anger at Washington is on display in recent months – the media calls it the “tea party movement”.  It’s a public uprising -- political political activism in full bloom and on steriods.  It was aimed at Democrats in the recent election because that party had adopted a far left agenda.  Americans reject far left government. Democrats were wiped out because they not only refused to reflect public opinion, but arrogantly sneered at it and proceeded to Impose unpopular issues, and unpopular philosophies on unwilling majorities.  They were rejected big time.  We are no longer a nation of sheep.

Janet Napolitano is among those who need to get the message.  She seems oblivious to the degree of anger and outrage emanating from the nation’s airports.  Americans don’t accept the radiation spewing scanners, and they sure don’t accept the intrusive pat-downs in which federal agents grope private parts.

Of course Napolitano authored the infamous memo to law enforcement that identified as potential terror recruits, those who disagree with Obama politically, especially if they are veterans.  Count on those who offer any sign of resistance, anxiety, or objection to the scans and pat-downs, being placed on “special” data lists of Homeland Security.

No one argues that airport security is not crucially important. (within the past 48 hours, another terror plot was stopped – this time in Oregon) That’s not the debate.  What is at issue are Government assumptions that it can ignore decency and normal reactions of ordinary Americans, and do much anything it wishes to whomever it wishes.  That arrogance is the root cause of the problem.

It boils down to “not my junk”, fellow.

Anger is growing, resentment is raging, and somewhere, somehow, the pent up emotion will boil over and the end result will be a forced shut down of the TSA along with its groping, grabbing, and gripping.  Bottom line, the TSA is exceeding the traditional “King of England’s” position one better.  It not only invades a man’s castle, it invades his Jockey Shorts, briefs, and kilts.

For their part, the scanning machines are very revealing, no matter government denials. They provide intimate details sufficient to ignite extreme sexual emotions among some agents – emotions sufficient to send at least one security agent over the edge of acceptable conduct and into arrest on criminal charges.

Janet Napolitano has an imminent crisis on her hands.  She can either quickly provide an acceptable solution to the resentment generated by current procedures, or she can continue to remain obdurate and be forced to preside over the result of extreme public reaction.  Tea party protests provided no violence or even hints of violence.  The pat-downs may generate greater resentment.

(Imagine a father enraged at seeing his 10 year old daughter being abused by TSA agents.)

In the absence of a common sense approach and solution, serious problems await – for Napolitano, for the TSA agents, and for Americans who may suffer from terrorist violence resulting from the void in effective response.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

FBI thwarts terrorist bombing attempt at Portland holiday tree lighting

The FBI thwarted an attempted terrorist bombing in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square before the city's annual tree-lighting Friday night, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.  A Corvallis man, thinking he was going to ignite a bomb, drove a van to the corner of the square at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue and attempted to detonate it.

The supposed explosive was a dummy that FBI operatives supplied to him, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed Friday night by U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a Somali-born U.S. citizen, was arrested at 5:42 p.m., 18 minutes before the tree lighting was to occur, on an accusation of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/11/fbi_thwarts_terrorist_bombing.html

Legislation remaining For Lame Duck Lawmakers

Bush tax cuts. Congress needs to act on the tax cuts before year's end, when they expire. Retroactive application of tax rates after a few months of uncertainty, economic types have said, would be messy.

The "doc fix": Unless Congress alters payment rates, doctors who treat Medicare patients will see their reimbursements drop by 2.2 percent.

START Treaty: The president has called this his nuclear arms-reduction treaty his number-one foreign policy priority for the rest of the year. His administration has indicated that it needs to be ratified now, instead of in a few months,

Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, aka the Defense authorization bill. This looks kind of doubtful. A repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is included in the bill to authorize Defense Dept. programs for another year, and, while gay-rights advocates still believe DADT will see a vote before the end of the lame duck, it's hard to see how this passes.

http://mail.aol.com/32945-111/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspx

Tom DeLay Blames 'Rogue' District Attorney and Democrats For his being Prosecuted

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's conviction for money laundering in a state court here could inspire prosecutors in other states to target the methods used by politicians to raise and deploy corporate contributions. A jury on Wednesday found Mr. DeLay knowingly funneled $190,000 in corporate donations to fellow Republicans running for the Texas Legislature in 2002, violating state laws that ban companies from contributing to candidates' campaigns.

Delay was convicted on one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 99 years, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which has a penalty of up to 20 years. Mr. DeLay, whose sentence will be determined by a judge, could also receive probation. Prosecutors say they haven't discussed whether to seek a prison term; sentencing is tentatively set for Dec. 20.

DeLay said a district attorney "shopped six grand juries...before he found a grand jury just sworn in 30 minutes to indict me" in a case where prosecutors said he illegally funneled corporate money through his political action committee to Texas candidates in 2002. Jurors spent 19 hours deliberating before returning the verdict Wednesday, after a three-week trial that saw more than 30 witnesses. The money laundering charge could see him sent to prison for life.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703678404575636942232850932.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

 

Friday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Democrats analyze their failure – they won’t like the conclusion

If I again point out Democrats “just don’t get it”, it would seem overly redundant.  However, scanning articles from writers on the left, we are left with no other conclusion.  Liberals remain in serious denial of facts – especially the fact a  majority of Americans don’t buy liberal policies and programs.   Liberals, “Progressives” if you insist on that further corruption of the language, are in serious denial and just cannot understand why they are losing…and doing to with great regularity.  Obama suggests it’s because Americans are too dumb to “get it”.

Democrats enjoyed four years of support, but those victories resulted more from Republican errors and mistakes, than from an embrace of liberal approaches to the nation’s problems.  No matter how many speeches he made on the subject, despite massive support from the left-leaning mainstream media, Obamacare had to be imposed on an unwilling America, one that now demands its repeal.

Democrats should face the fact that Americans don’t swallow the Kool Aid of the far left, reject ideas of copying “Old Europe” just don’t like what they see in Democrat candidates who advocate such things.

Unwilling to accept that reality, Steve Benen, writing in the Washington Monthly, has his own theory of why Republicans are winning and Democrats are losing.  Benen concludes Republicans have adopted a strategy of sabotaging the nation for purely political reasons.  Benen says sabotage as such an approach, could not have been adopted in the past.  He says, “If members of Congress set out to undermine the strength of the country, deliberately, just to weaken an elected president, they risked a brutal backlash -- the media would excoriate them, and the punishment from voters would be severe.”

Benen continues: “But I get the sense Republicans no longer have any such fears. The media tends to avoid holding congressional parties accountable, and voters aren't really paying attention anyway. The Boehner/McConnell GOP appears willing to gamble: if they can hold the country back, voters will just blame the president in the end. And that's quite possibly a safe assumption.”

One Washington Monthly reader responded to Benen’s theory: “Rush, Drudge, 'FOX and Fiends' will work themselves to the point of coronary's denying any such thing, and how it's the Democrats actions since Andrew Jackson's time that have sabotaged this nation.”

There we have it.  Democrats found an answer: Republicans are conspiring to bring the nation to its knees and keep it there just so they can defeat Democrats at the polls and maintain political power.

That anyone would take such as theory seriously is clearly absurd.  In its extremism, it demonstrates to degree of frenzy now causing paralysis among liberals.  Normal Americans also reject other theories of the far left.  Few would willingly support a Cap and Trade conspiracy that would blow huge holes in the economy. $8 a gallon gasoline is neither saleable, nor can it be tolerated in current American life.

Also, while Americans have traditionally welcomed immigrants, they cannot be persuaded to turn a blind eye to the flood of illegal immigrants streaming across our southern border.  (Especially when it is learned that illegals from Asia or the Middle East, pay up to $50,000 for help in doing so)

In short, Democrats are losing, not because of Republican conspiracies against the country and its economy, but because a majority of Americans reject what Democrats are trying to sell.

But liberal writers (pundits, if you will) refuse to face that most obvious fact.  When it comes to conspiracies, “journalists” of the left, have been caught actually  being involved in real ones…such as the cabal spring-loaded to accuse any conservative that comes to mind, with being racist – regardless of real conditions or circumstance.

Poll after poll reveals a basic – and most unpleasant – fact for liberal politicians.  Conservatives outnumber liberals by more than two to one.  Independents tend to break toward the GOP in about the same ratio, or better.

Common sense trumps far left theory and pomposity.  Berkeley and Frisco are alien in their thinking to real Americans.

Some liberals point to Obama as a source of their problems.  Robert Kuttner, writing in the Huffington Post, wistfully notes: “I cannot recall a president who generated so much excitement as a candidate but who turned out to be such a political dud as a chief executive." Concludes Kuttner: “Obama is fast becoming more albatross than ally."

Of course, liberals still cannot accept the fact the tea party movement is a spontaneous one, one that is pervasive and, if anything, continues growing. It reflects public opinion.

Being unable to recognize that fact is one major reason liberals are failing.  The movement is an open rejection of liberal government per se.  It is a public outcry for common sense in public affairs, and reliance on values that have long been revered and honored.

On such a chess board, Democrats prove they cannot compete.

When they exhaust their conspiracy theories, when the take a cold, hard look are reality, conclusions regarding the sad state of liberalism is clear and inescapable:  Americans are not buying what liberals are selling. 

It’s the plain old law of the market place. After all, Edsel sedans are no longer on sale either.

 Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Liberals looking for reasons for their failure

Following two years of poor economic performance and electoral repudiation, liberalism is casting around for narratives to explain its failure - narratives that don't involve the admission of inadequacies in liberalism itself.

For some, the solution is to lay the blame on President Obama. He hasn't been liberal enough. He can't communicate. "I cannot recall a president," Robert Kuttner says in the Huffington Post, "who generated so much excitement as a candidate but who turned out to be such a political dud as a chief executive." Obama is "fast becoming more albatross than ally."

This is an ideological movement at its most cynical, attempting to throw overboard its once-revered leader to avoid the taint of his problems. But there is an alternative narrative, developed by those who can't shake their reverence for Obama. If a president of this quality and insight has failed, it must be because his opponents are uniquely evil, coordinated and effective. The problem is not Obama but the ruthless conspiracy against him.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/25/AR2010112502553.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

Iran, North Korea, Cuba undertake to teach U.S. human rights

The results of the Obama administration's decision to submit the United States to the evaluation of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, a procedure snubbed by the Bush administration because of the records of those on the panel, are starting to appear, and they include harsh condemnation from such human rights "leaders" as Cuba, Libya, and Iran.

Before the report was unveiled, experts predicted that it would be used as "cannon fodder" by critics of the U.S. It seems that those forecasts are coming true, with nations such as Egypt, where the government arrests Christians who complain of being attacked by Muslims, and China, which has harshly limited couples to one child with forced abortions, lining up to instruct the U.S. on human rights.

As Esther Brimmer, an assistant secretary in the bureau of international organization affairs under Obama, talked about what an "honor" it was for the U.S. to be put under the scrutiny of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Castro regime and others, the criticism, relayed through interpreters, started. Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, another U.S. spokesman dispatched by the Obama administration, said the U.S. was "humbled by the recognition that we need to continue and even redouble our efforts as we strive to make ours a more perfect union."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=232177

Pentagon to test 2nd near-space strike craft that could strike any spot on Earth within an hour and a half

Defense Department scientists are set to conduct a second test launch next year of the Falcon HTV-2 experimental superweapon after the first flight this year ended when the autopilot deliberately crashed the unmanned glider into the ocean as a safety measure.

The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle is designed to skim the top of the atmosphere just below space, and is a key element of the Pentagon's Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) capability — a program to build non-nuclear strategic weapons that can strike conventionally anywhere in the world in less than an hour. It is a weapon specifically designed for urgent threats.

In a statement last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed for the first time that the first test flight April 20 ended when the autonomous onboard control system — the computer autopilot flying the futuristic superweapon — "commanded flight termination." The DARPA statement said that an independent engineering review board found that the flight was terminated after the plane began to roll so violently that it "exceeded the available control capability" of the onboard autonomous piloting system.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/25/pentagon-to-test-2nd-near-space-strike-craft/?page=1

 

Thursday's Web

Happy Thanksgiving

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Now Muslims expect Americans to pay for a Muslim Insult

The outrage grows!

Those sponsoring the infamous Ground Zero mosque clearly have no understanding of the deep seated resentment their project is generating.  That Mosque will forever be a flashpoint for non-Muslims who  recognize it as an in-your-face insult – a victory lap, if you will, for Islamic victory achieved on 9/11.

No one contends Muslims have no right to build their Mosque, it’s the location that constitutes an obvious insult that sparks opposition. Now the developers of the mosque have the gall to apply for a federal hand out to help with construction costs. Imagine!

Rubbing salt in the wounds of non-Muslims, was the outrageous act by the US State Department’s decision to send the Mosque’s Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on a tax-paid swing through oil-rich Muslim nations.  In politics, such a trip is known as “fundraising”  No matter where he went, no matter what he said or didn’t say, his very presence was a plea for contributions with which to build the mosque…a chance to strike back at the Infidels by simply writing a check…a very large check.

Now, they are back at the public trough, wanting us to pay for their intended insult.

(For the record, Imam Rauf contends 9/11 was Americas fault.)

Investers.com, in an editorial today reports:

“The application was submitted under a "community and cultural enhancement" grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC). The agency oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development.”

The editorial asserts, “developers hope to get around the ‘nonreligious activities’ requirement in their application by mentioning only the cultural, educational and community development aspects of the 13-story facility and not the prayer room and other areas where Shariah law, which is diametrically in conflict with Western values and freedoms, will be preached and advocated.

There is a clear contradiction at play.  As the editorial notes, “while the Ground Zero mosque proceeds, however slowly, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is not so lucky. It used to be right across the street from the WTC until it was crushed when Tower2 and its incinerated inhabitants came crashing down upon it.

“Plans to rebuild St. Nicholas two blocks from its original location fell apart when Port Authority officials objected to its 24,000-square-foot footprint with a traditional grand dome atop. They said it could not rise above the planned WTC memorial. Yet no objection was raised to a 13-story mosque on which there were placed no height restrictions.”

The editorial aptly concludes: “if the Ground Zero mosque was truly about outreach, developers might have proposed a joint project to rebuild both with a joint fund-raising effort. As it is, no taxpayer dollars should go to a project that we feel desecrates truly hallowed ground.”

Well said.

If, through a sudden leap of faith, we accept as factual, claims the Ground Zero mosque is intended as an honest outreach to achieve better understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, those directing the program are not only tone deaf, they are downright stupid.

No matter the intent,  the project has raised massive opposition. Defenders of the mosque point fingers and angrily accuse opponents of racism.  They claim opponents are at odds with the Constitutional rights of the Muslims.

The absurdity of that position is obvious.  There is no effort to stifle the Constitutional rights of Muslims. They are free to build a mosque wherever they wish.  It’s the site’s location that is highly offensive to non-Muslims.  Muslim insistence on building at this particular site is clearly racist.

Politicians such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg have been quite obnoxious in their stumbling efforts to support the Mosque. (of course, Mike Bloomberg has serious financial interests in currying favor among Islamic big shots. “Follow the money”)

Make no mistake about it, the offending mosque will be built.  Perhaps politicians such as Bloomberg can join finding more ways for US taxpayers to supply funding.  We must presume that among the oil rich Muslim nations on Imam Rauf’s itinerary, there are many eagerly willing to chip in to finance a middle-finger salute to non-Muslim Americans at the very location where some of their radical Islamic brethren achieved great success.

Incredibly, the Mosque’s project name is “Cordoba House” – chosen to honor the bloody Muslim conquest of Cordoba, Spain in 711. Canadian Muslims Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah, who sit on the board of the Muslim Canadian Congress, are quoted saying: "We Muslims know that the idea behind the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel."

Of course Americans who resent the mosque’s construction probably cannot stop it.   The “fix is in”.  That much must be recognized.  What is not acceptable is the potential use of tax payer money to build a monument so obviously intended to insult us all.  That’s adding insult to injury.  Make that MORE insult to MORE injury.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Jury convicts Tom DeLay in money laundering trial

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress — was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts against DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge.

After the verdicts were read, DeLay hugged his daughter, Danielle, and his wife, Christine. His lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said they planned to appeal the verdict.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_delay_trial

Ron Paul: Crotch Groped by TSA, Calls for Boycott of Airlines

Texas Congressman Ron Paul expressed his outrage and disgust with the TSA and its unconstitutional naked body scanners and genital groping under the transparent pretense of protecting the American people from terrorists in distant caves.

Paul predicted Americans will eventually boycott the airlines to put an end to the intrusive searches and the unconscionable use of dangerous backscatter radiation naked body scanners. “Maybe the Congress will get off their duffs and do something in January,” he said, “and insist we rein in the TSA.”

When asked if the TSA had subjected him to an “enhanced” screening, Ron Paul answered yes. “Specifically have you had the enhanced pat down, sir? Have they touched your crotch?”“Yes. Absolutely, and like I said, absolutely disgusting,” Paul responded.

He said he believes a boycott of the airlines will be necessary if we are going to force the government to back down and stop acting like a sexual predator. “I am going to be doing everything conceivable to try to change these rules because they are not making us safer, they aren’t better for us – it’s just to enhance the power of the state.

http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-crotch-groped-by-tsa-calls-for-boycott-of-airlines/

Military Pegs Hourly Air Force One Cost at $181G, as Obama Sets Travel Record

The U.S. military has provided an updated estimate on that cost, first published by a taxpayer watchdog group and confirmed by FoxNews.com, and the number is staggering -- $181,757 per hour. That's the price tag for shuttling around President Obama, who, as it turns out, has spent more days abroad in his first two years than any other president.

Estimates over the years based on government reports and independent number-crunching have always reflected a steep cost for presidential travel, but the figure provided by the 89th Airlift Wing appears to be far higher than any previously reported. It was first published in a report this week on presidential travel by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Master Sgt. Jeff Capenos, with the 89th Airlift Wing, told FoxNews.com the figure reflects operating costs ranging from fuel to engine and aircraft maintenance. Asked why other public estimates, which typically did not exceed $100,000, were so much lower, he said: "They were probably inaccurate."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/24/military-pegs-hourly-air-force-cost-g-obama-sets-travel-record/#ixzz16Iu9sIXd

 

Wednesday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Republican Congressmen act to rein in government financial bureaucrat

For those who feared the GOP takeover of the House might become more symbolic than real, relax, we can all breathe easier.  Real steps in taking on with a view to taking out, trash left by the overwhelming Democrat majorities they  enjoyed for the past four years.

In an opening shot across the liberal bow, Congressman Spencer Bachus and Congressman Judy Biggert, dispatched very similar letters to inspectors general of the Treasury and Federal Reserve.

(Bachus is rated the most conservative member of the Alabama delegation and is slated to take over the Chairmanship of the Financial Services Committee. This grants Bachus the pleasure of removing and replacing one of the more odious members of Congress – Barney Frank.)

A majority of Americans will shed no tears at Barney’s departure, and Bachus arrives with a full head of steam, leading an army of proven conservatives.

The Bachus and Biggert letters challenge the legality of Elizabeth Warren’s authority to set up the new Consumer Protection Bureau – a typical Obama-conspired scheme .

Bachus and Biggert  both urge the inspectors general to whom their letters were addressed, to investigate how Elizabeth Warren, whom President Obama made special White House adviser in September, has been setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new agency created under the summer’s infamous “financial reform” legislation.

For his part, Bachus – currently the Ranking Republican on the committee – has been a sharp critic of the reform bill from its outset.  He is particularly critical of the bill’s failure to deal with Freddie and Fannie – seen by experts as base factors in the financial chaos of 2009. 

As the Wall Street Journal reports: “Bachus and Biggert contend, in two nearly identical letters dated Nov. 22. 

From the letters: “First, the President’s decision to appoint Professor Elizabeth Warren as a special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and as a senior advisor in the White House with lead responsibility for establishing the Bureau, hiring its staff, and setting its agenda — as opposed to nominating the director of the Bureau, as contemplated by the Act — circumvented the advice-and-consent process and undermined one of the key checks and balances in our Constitution. While the Act confers upon the Secretary of the Treasury limited interim authority ‘to perform the functions of the Bureau’ (Section 1066(a)), Professor Warren is now exercising that authority.”

The aggressive action against the Warren position is just the most obviously aggressive action by Republicans – reflecting their mid-term election success that netted the GOP a full 63 additional seats.  (The GOP needed only 39 to achieve a majority)

Have no doubt, Warren is a fully committed minion of the far left – the very sort of people to which Obama is perpetually connected.  The response of the inspectors general to the letters from Bachus and Biggert will be interesting to see.  Now Republicans hold the heavy hand and response is mandated. 

It’s most encouraging to see such overt actions by Republicans.  John Boehner, the presumptive incoming Speaker of the House, is stating firmly that repeal of Obamacare is necessary.  Cherry picking individual points in the bill wont happen.  Boehner is accurate in his strategy.  For Republicans, it is time for the bold colors of which Reagan spoke.  Pastels have no place in such a time for action.

Early in the New Year, Americans will be treated to the delightful scene of Nancy Pelosi having to surrender the gavel.  It also means surrendering access to Air Force jetsfor her flights home to Frisco.  The Former Speaker should practice bracing for her pat downs.

Seeing Barney Frank slinking from his chairmanship, will be equally enjoyable.  Barney lied to Americans in assuring them the solidity of Fannie and Freddie only weeks before they collapsed and threw financial matters into total chaos.  Frank also makes no secret of his support of  imposing socialized medicine on the country. 

The Financial Services Committee Bachus will almost certainly chair, includes some other staunch conservatives – including Ron Paul who is pushing his own efforts regarding reform of the powerful Federal Reserve.

“Keep your chin up, America, the Republicans are coming” is the theme for January. How reassuring to see the GOP walk the walk at last.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Placards, kilts part of plans for scanner protests

Holiday travelers dismayed by airport body scans planned protests at bustling airports Wednesday, while the head of the nation's transport security agency urged passengers to comply with searches to reduce the possibility of delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

A loosely organized effort dubbed National Opt-Out Day plans to use flyers, T-shirts and, in one case, a Scottish kilt to highlight what some call unnecessarily intrusive security screenings. Others feared holdups: More than 40 million people plan to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to AAA, with just more than 1.6 million flying — a 3.5 percent increase in fliers from last year.

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole told ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday that his agency is "fully staffed" to deal with problems, but that travelers should expect delays because of the planned protests at airports across the country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_airport_security

In U.S., Tax Issues Rank as Top Priority for Lame-Duck Congress

Americans most likely to say extending tax cuts, dealing with estate tax very important

Gallup finds Americans are most likely to say it is important for Congress to pass legislation to keep the estate tax from increasing significantly next year and to extend the income tax cuts passed under George W. Bush, and to do so before the end of the year. Less than half say it is important for Congress to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed.

The Nov. 19-21 USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans to rate the importance of six possible actions Congress may take between now and the end of the year, during its "lame duck" session prior to the new Congress' taking office at the beginning of 2011.

Of these, taxes appear to be Americans' highest priority. That could be in part because tax rates would change significantly for 2011 if Congress does not act by the end of this year. The income tax cuts that were a centerpiece of the Bush economic plan are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts to extend them. Most in Congress seem to support at least a temporary extension, though there is disagreement as to whether any extension should apply to upper-income Americans, in addition to middle-income Americans.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/144899/Tax-Issues-Rank-Top-Priority-Lame-Duck-Congress.aspx

GOP Reaches 63 Seats With Maffei Concession

Rep. Dan Maffei formally conceded on Tuesday to Republican Ann Marie Buerkle, who won the race in New York’s 25 district by less than 600 votes.The Democrat’s concession brings the net GOP gains in the House to 63 seats, with three races still outstanding.

Maffei’s decision comes after three weeks of ballot inspections, but before a local judge ruled on a request for a full hand recount. That process likely would have delayed the contest’s outcome for several more weeks.

Maffei becomes the fifth House Democrat to lose in the Empire State this cycle, and his loss comes in a central New York district carried by President Barack Obama in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. Republicans have picked up six seats total in New York so far, with the outcome of one race still too close to call.
 
http://www.rollcall.com/news/-200871-1.html?zkPrintable=true

 

Tuesday;s Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Government Cant solve problems when it is the problem

Are the folks at the Department of Homeland Security, under Janet Napolitano brain dead, or should we suspect some hidden agenda?

I’m not into conspiracy theories, but Napolitano certainly makes it hard to take what her Department does seriously.

First, there was the infamous memo in which she (or her Department) accused those whose opinions differ from those of Obama, as being potential recruits for terror organization – especially those Americans who are veterans.  The memo was not a minor internal matter, copies were sent to law enforcement agencies nationwide.  In Missouri, especially, things got totally out of hand.

The latest Homeland Security fiasco are the new security measures at the nation’s airports.  The day before Thanksgiving is a time when the volumes of air travelers reache the highest of the year.  No more “over the hills and through the woods” these days. 

Air travelers now face options of sophisticated “see all” scanners which produce radiation problems for those who submit to it.  Those who reject the scanner, are forced to undergo invasive “pat downs” which often go beyond what that term describes at least until very recently.  “Grope down” is a more accurate term.

Really now, couldn’t Janet Napolitano have waited until after Thanksgiving?

Now, groping of private parts is reported from many travellers who reject the scans. While Homeland Security officials assured one and all that the images would be immediately destroyed, it is being revealed that’s not at all what’s happening.

It gets worse.  The other day an agent for TSA – the federal agency tapped by Homeland security to handle airport screening – was discovered masturbating while watching the very detailed images of women pass through.

That event says all you need to know about just how truly revealing those scanners actually are.  

Thomas Sowell of IBD comments:

“If anything good comes out of the airport "security" outrages, it may be in opening the eyes of more people to the utter contempt that this administration has for the American people. Those who made excuses for all of candidate Barack Obama's long years of alliances with people who expressed their contempt for this country, and when as president he appointed people with a record of antipathy to American interests and values, may finally get it when they feel some stranger's hand in their crotch.”

Sowell cogently notes the Obama Administration is not nearly so concerned with security when it comes to dealing with our borders. Illegal immigrants stream into the country daily.   No options for scanners or for “grope downs”. Just come right in, and a bit later, send for the family members left behind. Democrats are working hard on amnesty schemes – after all, Democrats see illegal immigrants as potential Democrat voters. (Given the massive rejection of Democrats in recent elections, the illegals may be critical for Democrats as real Americans increasingly move in the other direction.

Sowell also points out,

“As for the excuse of "security," this is one of the least security-minded administrations we have had. When captured terrorists who are not covered by either the Geneva Convention or the U.S. Constitution are nevertheless put on trial in American civilian courts by the Obama Justice Department, that too tells you all you need to know about how concerned they are about national security.

“The rules of criminal justice in American courts were not designed for trying terrorists. For one thing, revealing the evidence against them can reveal how our intelligence services got wind of them in the first place, and thereby endanger the lives of people who helped us nab them.”

The Israelis have great airport security, but they achieve that by picking out potential terrorists before they can board planes.  The Obama Administration would recall in horror at such a suggestion.  That would require “profiling” – what would the ACLU say about that?

Sowell responds to the suggestion “ this administration is so hung up on political correctness that they have turned "profiling" into a bugaboo. They would rather have electronic scanners look under the clothes of nuns than to detain a Jihadist imam for some questioning.”

The TSA lacks common sense, but why should it be different from other agents of the federal government.  They refuse to allow a soldier in uniform to board a private charter, to keep a pair of fingernail clippers, even though the soldier, and all his fellow travelers were carrying guns and pistols.  The clipper story reveals just how stupid federal “one size fits all” madness can be. That’s the way it works with bureaucracies.

The clipper story is just one of many – in fact, in many areas, federal government agents engage in examples of ridiculous lack of judgment. Americans deserve better from their government than to be subjected to such stupidity.

Napolitano and her department, don’t make many in our Homeland, feel very secure.  Time for a change – but that won’t happen until and unless Obama is defeated in 2012.  Then, perhaps, everyone can take a deep breath, clean the table, get rid of the TSA screeners, their scanners, and other similar fiascos Obama has imposed on the country, then reach common sense solutions.

As far as political correctness is concerned, getting rid of that stupid concept is a good place from which to start.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Lowest ever: Obama job approval sinks to 39%, as even Democrats' support melts away

Obama's job approval rating as calculated by the Zogby Poll has now sunk to 39%, a new low for his 22-month presidency that began with so much hope and excitement for liberals and other Democrats and poll numbers up around 70. As recently as Sept. 20, his job approval was 49%.

A whopping 60% now disapprove of his job, up from 51% disapproval Sept. 20.

Obama began losing the support of independents in the summer of 2009, as he responded to polls showing voter concerns focused on the economy by staging 59 town hall meetings on healthcare. Independents were a crucial part of his coalition win in 2008 but have now dwindled to 39%.

Zogby notes, perhaps most ominous for the president is that he's now losing support among his own party people. His approval plopped nearly 10% in just one week, from 78% down to 72% in Zogby's latest read.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/

GOP Might Target ObamaCare As Part Of A Medicare 'Doc Fix'

Republicans on Capitol Hill may sense an opportunity to fuse the Medicare "Doc Fix" with their piecemeal strategy for repealing ObamaCare.

If Democrats do not act in this lame-duck session, physicians will face a 23% cut in their Medicare fees in early December and an additional 2% cut in January.

The Senate late Thursday passed a one-month extension so that Congress would be able to work on a solution in December. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House would follow suit in late November.Doc Fixes have seldom lasted more than six months, and many Democrats want a longer patch.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/554579/201011221909/GOP-Might-Target-ObamaCare-As-Part-Of-A-Medicare-Doc-Fix.htm

Four Congressional races remain undecided

Republicans gained at least 62 House seats in the Nov. 2 election, but four districts - two in California and two in New York - are still up for grabs.

The number of unresolved races dropped to four Monday night when Democrat Solomon Ortiz, a veteran of 14 terms in the 27th District in Texas, conceded to Republican Blake Farenthold, according to a  Democratic sour

In the remaing races, Democrats currently lead in three of the four races still undecided.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=761B40D2-E209-8E86-D75D275269777415

 

Sunday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Team Obama and its embarrassing incompetence 

Obama’s  Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, is increasingly an object of ridicule.  She has no one but herself to blame, and she is not alone in that judgement when it comes to the Obama Administration.

Calling Obama and his hoard of extremist legislators in the Democrat majority that dominated Capitol Hill until they counted votes in the mid-term, merely “outrageous” stretches honest definitions for the term beyond all previous limits.

They should just take down their pictures, pack their bags, and leave.

Take a recent proposal by Ray Lahood – Obama’s Transportation Secretary.  His suggested idiocy is all the more striking since, until he was infected with the Obama virus, he was a rather respectable Republican.  No longer.

LaHood is threatening to disable all mobile phones in cars. We presume that includes cell phones.  Imagine, people who commute, who work from their cars, or who have complicated issues getting to and from work, to meetings, and to their kids' activities will be seriously impaired. But promoting extreme proposals based on ridiculous assumptions, is a hallmark of Obama and his people.

Certainly we all recognize the huge danger posed by people who text while driving, There  is less concern for drivers on cell phones.  However, such draconian solutions such as LaHood threatens, are not acceptable.

From the outset, Napolitano has been off key, and simply “stuck on stupid”.  

The American people should be able to depend on the intel services of Homeland Security.  It should be a dependable repository for solid findings and accurate analysis.

However, Homeland Intel early contended opposition to Obama is primarily based on racist bias.  Of course it is not.  Anyone familiar with emails and other exchanges, especially within the tea party movement, knows better.  It’s not racism, its far left idiocy to which Americans object – the sort of liberal mindset that believes government is a solution, and who embrace big government.   Normal America resents seeing a takeover of the nation’s health care system – especially since that takeover was imposed against the will of a majority of Americans.  They resent having bureaucrats make decisions affecting their lives, and they hold high such values as patriotism and religious reverence.

The most recent example of government insanity comes again from Janet Napolitano – the infamous screening of air travel passengers.  Without belaboring that subject needlessly, a report this morning from a returning army officer suffices.  Coming home at last aboard a special military charter, more than 300 military personnel were required to de-board the charter during a stop intended purely to let off about 100 national guardsmen.  This leaving the plane was demanded despite the fact, it had flown directly from Afghanistan.

Forced to stand and wait, they finally faced additional screening, including emptying their pockets (we assume also being required to remove their combat boots).  One of these combat veterans had fingernail clippers.  He was forced to surrender the clippers, despite arguments.  Yet he, and all his fellow passengers were still carrying their guns and rifles – even a couple of machine guns.  No ammo, of course, but certainly weapons posing a far greater threat to the good order than fingernail clippers.

Insistence on confiscating the clippers, is a minor matter, but what is instructive is the sheer idiocy the incident represents.  Mindless, bureaucratic, government procedure, void of reason. There can be no intellectual defense of the screener – plus that same stupidity is what produces massive reaction to the obscene pat downs…and to much of the other incompetent government insanity and irresponsibility.

Don’t bother arguing.  The man in charge of the screening insanity assures one and all that he has no inclination to change.  “Stupid is as stupid does”, advised Forest Gump.  

It doesn’t end there.

Further idiocy and incompetence was provided by  Attorney General Eric Holder.  Holder has once again prooved liberals cannot be trusted with American security, or with decision-making in the case of waging war.

Writes pundit Hugh Hewitt: “The outrage is growing as Americans learn more and more about how utterly avoidable this outrageous miscarriage of justice (the civilian trial of a terrorist) was. John Podhoretz's and Jennifer Rubin's criticisms are among the most pointed and both employ the damning word "debacle" in the title, and Powerline's Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker weigh in with ‘The Failure Option’."

In calling for Holder’s ouster, Hewitt maintains: “Hopefully at least some on the the academic left will shut up about that which they nothing about --the difficulty of trying unlawful combatants with civilians in the jury box and prosecutors unable to use evidence both because of evidentiary standards that ought not to be applicable to terrorists captured abroad and because of the fear of compromising the methods and sources of intelligence gathering.”

Some will suggest Obama and his Capitol Hill cohorts be dubbed “the Gang that couldn’t shoot straight”.  But we would reasonably expect one or more gangs to sue for slander.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Democrats vote over Four and a Half Billion dollars for Black and Indian Farmers

The Democrat-dominated U.S. Senate has approved $4.6 billion to settle two lawsuits: one by black farmers who alleged racial discrimination by government lenders and the other by 300,000 American Indians who said they had been cheated out of land royalties dating all the way back to 1887.

The measure passed by voice vote. Payouts were negotiated by the Obama administration. $1.15 billion goes to the black farmers and $3.4 billion goes to American Indians.

Obama applauded the Senate for its action and prodded the House (still controlled by Democrats) to move forward with passage of the bill At least seven times this year, Senate Republicans blocked efforts to include the spending provisions in pending legislation. Their objections prompted repeated complaints by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-19/senate-approves-4-6-billion-for-claims-by-black-farmers-american-indians.html

FCC may regulate Internet lines days before Christmas

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may move on its “net-neutrality” regulations before the end of December. It has been leaked that the commission plans to push its December meeting back a week a meeting analysts predict FCC members will move forward on its controversial “net-neutrality proposal”.

Republicans are already planning to oppose the potential Internet line regulations, which would restrict in how cable and phone companies manage Internet traffic. Friday, nineteen Republicans have signed a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski urging him not to move forward with the scheme.

It gets worse: Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill to give the Attorney General a right to shut down websites with court orders if copyright infringement is determined to be “central to the activity” of the site. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) is among the most draconian laws ever considered to combat digital piracy, and contains what some have called the “nuclear option,” which would essentially allow the Attorney General to turn suspected websites “off.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/130197-fcc-may-regulate-internet-lines-days-before-christmas

Federal Judge To Murkowski: “Not so fast, my friend” Certification of Alaska Senate Election halts

An Alaska federal judge, Ralph Beistline, ruled Friday that Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller's challenge to the counting of write-in ballots raises "serious" legal issues but is a matter for a state, not federal, court.

The judge says he will grant a temporary injunction to halt certification of the Alaskan Senate election as sought by Republican Primary winner, Joe Miller. The ruling means Miller must take his case to the state court tomorrow. Miller intended to do so. Beistline's ruling is designed to (in the words of the ruling) "ensure that these serious state law issues are resolved prior to certification of the election,".

Miller’s federal suit was designed to halt the state from using discretion in determining voter intent on write-in ballots.  Incumbent Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski, declared victory

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/19/federal-judge-halts-certification-alaska-senate-election-miller-eyes-lawsuit/#ixzz15vUItOkn

 

Saturday's Web

Political Truth and Fact.Com
Neither fair nor balanced, but absolutely factual

Flying today’s Airlines and other forms of torture

A conspiracy is afoot to convince Americans they shouldn’t use airlines for travel.

At major airports such as in Atlanta, it’s wise to arrive a full two hours early in order to accommodate the confusion currently required by demands of security.

That’s two hours after finding a parking slot for which a huge fee will be charged. That is often followed by a very long walk to the ticket counter (encumbered with carry-ons ).

If travel plans don’t match those offered in the kiosk machines, then standing in a line to reach the ticket seller must be undertaken – requiring constant efforts to keep carry on burdens near at hand as the line moves slogs along.

These days, the carry ons – once limited, are now expensive. Most airlines charge for such items, and the charges are not small.

Ticket in hand, today’s air traveler then heads toward the departure gate to endure another very long and tedious process.  Additional resentment of radical Islam grows as time crawls by.

Federal Airline inspectors are waiting, wearing rubber gloves that men who have undergone prostate exams have instinctively come to dread.  Shoes must be removed, pockets emptied, and new machines with X-ray vision await.

Those who object to the radiation risk, especially those with such add-ons as joint replacements, pacemakers, and other devices, must avoid the machines, then  submit to increasingly invasive “pat downs”

Charles Krauthammer, ever a cogent observer of American life, offers a good description of the process.  “… the entire apparatus of the security line is a national homage to political correctness. Nowhere do more people meekly acquiesce to more useless inconvenience and needless indignity for less purpose.”

He continues: “Wizened seniors strain to untie their shoes; beltless salesmen struggle comically to hold up their pants; 3-year-olds scream while being searched insanely for explosives — when everyone, everyone, knows that none of these people is a threat to anyone.”

Even men and women in military uniform, carrying identification and orders, are forced to remove combat boots and submit to the inspection.

Krathammer continues, “We pretend that we go through this nonsense as a small price paid to assure the safety of air travel. Rubbish. This has nothing to do with safety — 95% of these inspections, searches, shoe removals and pat-downs are ridiculously unnecessary.

“The only reason we continue to do this”, he says,”is that people are too cowed to even question the absurd taboo against profiling — when the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known.”

Krauthammer is exactly right as usual.  Every threat to date has come from people of Middle Eastern extraction, and the attempts can all be traced to radical Islam.

It is indeed unlikely young children or elderly Americans will be involved with such people.  Of course, “political correctness” by its very nature, conflicts with common sense and intelligent options.  It is absurd, intrusive and quite noxious. 

While totally revising current security efforts at airports, and discarding the machines and the obscene pat downs, thinking Americans should also be dismissive of the political correctness idiocy that is at the base of much of the inane stupidity fostered by the process.  Civilization will be far the better for such a disdain.

For several years I flew as a pilot in the USAF.  In both jet bombers and single engine aircraft, I had far more room and comfort than in many of today’s airline accommodations.  In fact, sitting on a parachute was often more comfortable, and there was no one reclining a seat into my lap. 

We are in a very real war today – one imposed on us by radical Islam.  Intelligent responses to that attack are crucial if we are to prevail.  Airport security as conducted today is not an intelligent response.  Airline flying today is a downright unpleasant experience.  It is indeed fortunate they continue selling booze.

I once heard Flying reduced to its most basic by an RAF pilot with whom I shared a drink or two in Belize.  Replied the “Raffer” when asked what he did for a living, “Why, I’m in aluminium tubing”.  Asked what he did in aluminum, he explained “why, I fly in it, of course”.

That describes the plight of today’s air passenger in this country – they just ride in aluminum tubing – and that’s the easy part.

Buddy

The day’s top political news:

Obama Slips Secret Arms Sale Pass Congress

The Obama administration has quietly forged ahead with its proposal to sell $60 billion worth of fighter jets and attack helicopters to Saudi Arabia unhampered by Congress, despite questions raised in legislative inquiries and in an internal congressional report about the wisdom of the deal.

The massive arms deal would be the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the U.S., outfitting Saudi Arabia with a fully modernized, potent new air force.

But some critics are questioning the deal, and the stealthy effort by the Obama administration to avoid a more probing congressional review by notifying Congress last month, just as members were headed home for the November elections. Congress had 30 days to raise objections -- a review period that concludes Saturday. With most members leaving Washington today, any significant effort to block the deal appears dead for now, officials said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/critics-slam-obama-administration-hiding-massive-saudi-arms/story?id=12192558

Democrats Experiencing Chaos on Taxes

President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the U.S. Congress, many upset with him for election losses, are in disarray over what to do about tax cuts for millions of Americans that are set to expire on December 31.

With time running out and high political and economic stakes, Obama is pushing Democratic leaders to determine if they can win an acceptable extension of the cuts, which he could sign into law.Resurgent Republicans are demanding that all the tax cuts be renewed, including those for wealthier Americans -- individuals making more than $200,000 and families above$250,000.

Obama favors renewing the tax cuts only for those at or below those level, saying the nation cannot afford to renew them for wealthier Americans.Despite a number of options -- including renewing all tax cuts or only those for the middle class or tying any extension to a renewal of jobless benefits -- there is no indication a consensus is near.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A44K020101119

Ethics trial of Maxine Waters called off

Controversial Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is accusing the House ethics committee of having a weak case against her, one that is unraveling after the panel abruptly cancelled her public trial. Waters says she is disappointed the committee again postponed the hearing and says it shows “a complete disregard for due process and fairness.”

The House ethics committee announced Friday it has delayed indefinitely Waters trial because the panel had discovered new evidence in the case. It is unclear from the committee's statement whether the trial will move forward and what evidence was discovered.

According to a joint statement from Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who chairs the ethics committee, and ranking member Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the case is being referred back to the subcommittee investigating the matter. Waters's trial was set to begin on Nov. 29.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/130161-ethics-committee-calls-off-waters-trial