Note to WH Office of Presidential Personnel: Here's a Smart Guy with Your Ethical Standards

Adam Wheeler has an impressive resume of successfully persuading the smartest guys in the room that he is a peer.

Read his story here

News From the Obamaphate: DHS Rebranding itself as "ВЧК"

In coordination with the White House Office of Re-Branding - because, after all, a good marketing campaign is all it takes to win the public's support - DHS has undertaken an image overhaul and has renamed itself "ВЧК" (which, transliterated to the Latin alphabet, reads Cheka). As part of the re-branding campaign, the Corner of 12th and C Street, S.W. in Washington, D.C. has been renamed to "Felix Dzerzhinsky Place" and ВЧК has adopted a new emblem (below) to be rolled out over the next several weeks on all departmental vehicles, stationery, business cards, lapel pins, coffee mugs, baseball caps, tee-shirts and other collectibles. The Department of Justice will enforce all ВЧК trademarks and copyright interests in the emblem.

As part of the new branding effort, the Secretary's title has been re-branded to Commissar, and Commissar Napolitano has just announced a new partnership with Walmart to encourage shoppers to spy on each other:

Press Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Dec. 6, 2010

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING'

WASHINGTON -- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department’s national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to hundreds of Walmart stores across the country—launching a new partnership between DHS and Walmart to help the American public play an active role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation.

“Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I applaud Walmart for joining the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities.”

The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign—originally implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and funded, in part, by $13 million from DHS’ Transit Security Grant Program—is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

More than 230 Walmart stores nationwide launched the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign today, with a total of 588 Walmart stores in 27 states joining in the coming weeks. A short video message, available here, will play at select checkout locations to remind shoppers to contact local law enforcement to report suspicious activity.

Over the past five months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign and Nationwide SAR Initiative to communities throughout the country—including the recent state-wide expansions of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign across Minnesota and New Jersey. Partners include the Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, sports and general aviation industries, and state and local fusion centers across the country.

In the coming months, the Department will continue to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America’s businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the county safe.

News For The Obamaphate: Karzai & Bros. Ltd Selling Get Out of Jail Cards

At the risk of irritating some of my more right end fellow bloggers, if in fact the following story is true, I propose that we pack up our bags of money and guns and leave the Graveyard of Empires as soon as possible.

From Reuters, here's why:

(Reuters) - Afghan security forces are freeing captured senior Taliban for payment or political motives, with President Hamid Karzai and his powerful brother among those authorizing and requesting releases.

The practice is so systemic that the Taliban have a committee focused on getting their fighters out of jail. It undermines the deterrent effect of arrest and the potential of the prisoner population as a card to play in peace talks, analysts say.

The releases, which were confirmed to Reuters by several sources familiar with a range of cases, also raise questions about the capacity and political will of Afghan security forces meant to be taking over from foreign troops starting next year.

U.S. forces will begin drawing down numbers from next July and NATO hopes to meet Karzai's 2014 target for all security to be provided by Afghan police and military.

But cases uncovered by Reuters including that of Ghulam Haidar, a top insurgent in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar, suggest that a web of complex loyalties and widespread corruption are undermining the fight against the insurgency.

Ghulam Haidar, meaning "servant of God," is a common name in Afghanistan so when Canadian forces turned one of the most dangerous men in Kandahar city over to their Afghan counterparts in March, they may not have realized who he was.

Days later he was walking free again, according to three sources who have investigated prisoner releases or have seen documents about Haidar's capture. They asked not to be named because they are not authorized to release information.

"They took this guy into custody in mid-March, but he was out again in a few days. This is a classic example of what has been happening," one former Western official told Reuters.

A Kabul-based source with links to Western intelligence services confirmed Haidar was a Taliban leader known to have a major role in the insurgency around the city.

Yet his freedom was requested by Karzai's younger brother Ahmad Wali Karzai, head of the Kandahar provincial council.

Dubbed "AWK" by Westerners working in Kandahar, he has an iron grip on the city but his loyalties are considered less solid. A U.S. government cable dated 2009, released by WikiLeaks, described him as a corrupt drug trafficker.

"When Ghulam Haidar was in (Afghan) custody AWK asked for his release," said a second source, who rejected the idea that Haidar could have been set free because he was a double agent.

"If the Afghan government had good agents within the Taliban things should have gotten better -- but that is obviously not the case," the source added.

Ahmad Wali Karzai said he had never asked for the release of a Taliban prisoner and had not heard of Ghulam Haidar.

"I am the person most wanted by the Taliban, with nine suicide attacks against me," he told Reuters by telephone.

Hat Tip to Christopher Fountain who properly asks: Why waste another American life?

Really; who in the hell needs this shit?

News from the Obamaphate: Obama Ill No More, Clinical Narcissism is No Longer a Disorder

In a classic CYA maneuver, America's shrinks have de-listed Narcissistic Personality Disorder as a condition warranting treatment. My understanding is that the condition is impervious to treatment protocols (i.e.: incurable), so I can sort of understand why America's "The rapists" have decided to absolve themselves of the responsibility of dealing with narcissists. Presumably, Obama is relieved that he doesn't have a treatable condition.

A deep Hat Tip to Weasel Zippers who treats this news more thoroughly than I.

UPDATE: Weasel Zippers' link is 4-ought-4. Here's a new source link.

FREE AASIA BIBI !!!

Discussing this Story:

Eric Dondero at Libertarian Republican who has quite properly chastised most of the other Libertarian bloggers for their silence on this. Here

Ran at Si Vis Pacem. Here

Les Carpenter for Left Coast Rebel. Here

"Walt", A Follower of my Friend Chris Fountain's Blog Concocts the PERFECT Bomb Screening Solution for TSA - Move Over Michael Chertoff

As some of my more regular readers know, I have a blogging friend in neighboring Greenwich, CT. He's Chris Fountain and runs the very often funny (or should I say, rarely disappointing) and wildly eclectic blog For What Its Worth.

In the Comments section of one Chris' most recent posts ("We focus on bombs, Israelis look for terrorists ... And that’s the difference. Here’s how Israel screens plane passengers."), one of his readers, a certain "Walt" came up with a bloody brilliant screening solution for the TSA that I'm quite sure would win the support of all but those who's life mission is to blow up airplanes in mid-flight. Walt's solution is genuinely elegant in its poetic justice, efficient and extraordinarily cost effective. Enjoy!

Walt

November 24, 2010 at 6:33 pm

Weasel Boy -
So I have been noodling this whole pat down screening issue, and I finally figured it out. Here is what we need to do.
All we need to do is develop a booth that you can step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have hidden on or in your body. The explosion will be contained within the sealed booth. This would be a win-win for everyone. There would be no racial profiling and the device would eliminate long and expensive trials. This is so simple it’s brilliant! I can see it now: you’re in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion. Then an announcement comes over the PA system, “Attention standby passengers, we now have a seat available on flight number…
Talk about a win-win!!
Your Pal,
Walt

Hey Walt! Hire the engineers, find a VC company to fund the start-up, and let me in on the first and subsequent private placement offerings.

Rasmussen Reports: 27% View U.S. Society As Unfair and Discriminatory

From Rasmussen Reports comes this interesting piece:

27% View U.S. Society As Unfair and Discriminatory
Saturday, November 20, 2010

More than one-out-of-four Likely U.S. Voters (27%) now believe American society is generally unfair and discriminatory, the highest negative finding in over a year.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 60% of voters believe U.S. society is generally fair and decent, but that’s down 10 points from October and is also the lowest level found since October 2009. Another 13% are undecided. (Read the rest here)

Interestingly, this is the same percentage of respondents who, as of today, Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president in Rasmussen's Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Click the image to enlarge

While the background numbers may not reflect a perfect correlation between the political viewpoints of the respondents to the respective polls, I would not be at all shocked to learn that there is a very high degree of overlap between responders who believe that U.S. society is "unfair and discriminatory" and those who strongly approve of Obama's performance.

Ottmar Edenhofer, Co-Chair of UN's IPCC Admits That "Climate Policy" Really is Just a Big Redistributionist Theft Scam

A hearty tip of the beret is due to Ran at Si Vis Pacem who put me on to this story.

Background: Ottmar Edenhofer is a German economist who deals with climate change policy and environmental and energy policy and energy economics. He is currently professor of the Economics of Climate Change at the Technical University of Berlin, co-chair of Working group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and deputy director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as well as Fellow of the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg, Germany.

...

In 2004, Ottmar Edenhofer was a lead author for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore. See, Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottmar_Edenhofer

In an interview with Germany's NZZ Online, Edenhofer freely admitted that the goal of Climate Policy is to transfer wealth from the West to the Third World by imposing economy eviscerating carbon caps on the West. If you're lucky enough not to be worried about keeping your job, paying your rent or mortgage and feeding your children now, just wait until this elitist skank pushes through his socialist agenda. You'll be lucky if you can afford a tent, sleeping bag, alcohol stove and pinto beans.

(NZZ AM SONNTAG): The new thing about your proposal for a Global Deal is the stress on the importance of development policy for climate policy. Until now, many think of aid when they hear development policies.

(OTTMAR EDENHOFER, UN IPCC OFFICIAL): That will change immediately if global emission rights are distributed. If this happens, on a per capita basis, then Africa will be the big winner, and huge amounts of money will flow there. This will have enormous implications for development policy. And it will raise the question if these countries can deal responsibly with so much money at all.

(NZZ): That does not sound anymore like the climate policy that we know.

(EDENHOFER): Basically it's a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization. The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War. Why? Because we have 11,000 gigatons of carbon in the coal reserves in the soil under our feet - and we must emit only 400 gigatons in the atmosphere if we want to keep the 2-degree target. 11 000 to 400 - there is no getting around the fact that most of the fossil reserves must remain in the soil.

(NZZ): De facto, this means an expropriation of the countries with natural resources. This leads to a very different development from that which has been triggered by development policy.

(EDENHOFER): First of all, developed countries have basically expropriated the atmosphere of the world community. But one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world's wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole.

Well, at least Ottmar is being honest about his objectives in this regard, unlike that other-smartest-guy-in-the-room and serial grad school drop-out Al Gore.

Read more at NEWSBUSTERS.

Elitist Demoncrat Sen. Jay Rockefeller Wants to Discard the First Amendment

Real Clear Politics has a video up (here) of Sen. Jay Rockefeller saying:

"There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; to our ability to do our work here in Congress; and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."

HEY JAY, ONE BIG FAT ROADBLOCK FOR YOU. IT'S CALLED THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO OUR FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, YEAH, THAT THING YOU SWORE TO UPHOLD AND DEFEND. SINCE YOU'VE OBVIOUSLY FORGOTTEN WHAT IT SAYS, I'LL REMIND YOU, EMPHASIZING IN PERTINENT PART WITH BOLD TEXT SO THAT YOUR APPARENTLY DAMAGED BRAIN CAN GRASP WHY YOU CAN'T SILENCE FOX NEWS OR MSNBC.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

UPDATE:

Weasel Zippers has a similar post up here:

Al Sharpton Demands Dems Push FCC to Limit Rush Limbaugh’s Freedom of Speech So People Aren’t “Subjected” to What He Says…

We Are The Ones We've Been Waiting For....

Well, this says it all. No additional analysis required.

Stupid is as Stupid Does. Three Democrat Voters Who Won't Get to the Polls Today

While combing my hometown paper's stories, I came across the following piece on three complete idiots. Enjoy!

Police: Mistaken identity most likely prompted carjacking

Daniel Tepfer, Staff Writer

Published: 10:45 p.m., Monday, November 1, 2010

BRIDGEPORT -- A case of mistaken identity nearly cost a city man his life and resulted in a carjacking and wild ride through six towns.

It all began Friday afternoon when, State Police said, when a 30-year-old city man was driving along Sanford Avenue here.

Police said as the victim was driving his 2004 Hyundai sedan toward the intersection with Harral Avenue two men and a woman ran up to his car.

Nicole Bowen, 27, had arrived at her Sanford Avenue apartment a short time earlier from her job in Yonkers, N.Y., to find it ransacked, police said. Enraged, police said she had enlisted the aid of two friends, Tye Thomas, 20, and 18-year-old Lavar Perry, to get back at the people she believed burglarized her apartment.

Bowen left her apartment armed with a handgun and a roll of duct tape. As the victim was driving by, police said Bowen mistook him for being one of the burglars and she and her two companions charged his car.

Police said the trio stopped the victim's car and ordered him at gunpoint to move into the front passenger seat. Bowen then got into the driver's seat while Thomas and Perry got into the back seat, police said. They said Bowen then began driving while pointing the gun at the victim.

"I told the guy in the front passenger seat that everything was going to be all right. I just needed to get back to New York," police said Bowen later told them.

Bowen pulled off Interstate 95 in Darien to get gas. While either Thomas or Perry held the victim in a headlock, police said the other man removed cash from the victim's pocket and used it to pay for gas in the car. They then continued south on I-95.

As they neared exit 2, police said the victim became convinced the trio would kill him and he made the decision to try and jump out of the car as it slowed for traffic. They said he managed to get the passenger-side door open but Bowen realized what he was trying to do and began hitting the victim with the butt of the gun while yelling to Perry and Thomas to grab him.

Police said the car began swerving from lane to lane as the four struggled inside. At one point, they said the victim managed to get a hand on the gun and it went off, shattering the back window.

As the four continued to struggle, police said Bowen lost control of the car and it crashed into the median barrier. The victim, taking advantage of the dazed condition of his attackers, managed to get out of the car and began running along the highway. Police said a passing motorist stopped for the victim and stayed with him until police arrived.

Meanwhile, Bowen, unable to restart the car, got out and began to run. At some point police said she told them she looked back to see her two companion still standing by the car. "I yelled back to them, 'what are you doing, let's go,' police said she related. They said she threw the gun over the cement barrier into the opposite lanes only to see a car stop and someone inside get out of the car, pick up the gun and continue driving.

Bowen, Thomas and Perry were arrested a short later after causing near pandemonium in downtown Greenwich.

The three were charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and third-degree larceny.

They were each being held in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Linda McMahon: Why didn't you run on this from the beginning?

Below is a new embedded radio advertisement from Linda McMahon advising that she'll (1) self limit her service in the senate to two terms, (2) take no government salary and (3) refuse congressional benefits for herself.

All I can say Linda, is that you should have started your campaign with this promise. I'm certain it would have helped your chances enormously. I'll be voting for you because the alternative of pathological liar and narcissist Dick Blumenthal is intolerable.

Good luck Linda!

From the Reaganite Republican...

My blogging friend James who writes Reaganite Republican has a great post up.

Here's a tease.

Cross Post from Simple Justice: Blogger Warren Redlich Meets Political Insanity

Scott Greenfield, a criminal defense lawyer in New York City who writes Simple Justice - easily one of the finest blawgs on the net - posted this piece this morning condemning a political character assassination flier attacking New York Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Warren Redlich as a dangerous sexual predator. Scott was kind enough to let me re-post it here in its entirety. I agree completely with Scott. What do you think?

Blogger Warren Redlich Meets Political Insanity

When I first heard that Warren Redlich, a DUI lawyer up in Albany who blogged for business, was running as the Libertarian candidate for governor of the State of New York, I chuckled. Talk about an endeavor without a payoff. Of course, I had no idea at the time that the alternatives would be a zombie and the only one of Mario's offspring who got his good looks. Suddenly, Warren doesn't look nearly as silly.

Apparently, others are concerned about Warren as well. In order to screw with him, this appeared:



There are place[s] no one should go, and this is one of them. Is there a word, lie, defamation, libel, that captures just how twisted this is?

The purported basis for this "attack" is a blog post of Warren's that questions the prevalence and hypocrisy of Puritanism in America.

The story also hits on how Puritanism is still so prevalent in America. The greatest love interest in the history of romance is at least arguably Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. Juliet was 13 years old. For some reason females become fertile in their early teens and peak before the age of 18. You would think those who believe in the theory of evolution would see this as the design of the species. And in an interesting alliance with Darwin, shouldn't religious people (and not just those in cults) believe teenage girls should be sexually active (in marriage of course), as that would appear to be the intent of the intelligent design? Instead both groups appear to be together on the opposite side.

Another take is the notion that men who find teenage girls attractive are perverts. If you look at literature like Shakespeare, and at some historical figures like Sir William Johnson (a prominent pre-revolutionary leader in New York), you get the impression that it used to be normal for men, even much older men, to be interested in teenage girls.

While this isn't something I would have written, and I frankly find it distasteful and, well, wrong, the flier is just outrageous. Rough politics is hardly unheard of in New York, but this goes beyond the pale and hits a new low.

Warren blames the Paladino campaign for the flier.

Redlich said Paladino was responsible for the ad, without backing up this claim. Paladino spokesman Michael Caputo rejected it on Sunday.

Redlich has said his goal is to get more votes than Paladino on Tuesday, which would give the Libertarian party the second highest spot on the ballot, a big advantage in voting, just below the Democratic Party.

The Paladino campaign denies responsibility.

"That would be like Bill Clinton jabbing Pat Paulson in the 1996 New Hampshire primary," Caputo said, referring to the joke campaign of Paulson, a comedian. "Never wrestle the comic relief _ you just get clown white smeared all over your suit."

However, one-time Nixon and Paladino campaign strategist Robert Stone, rather than disavow the flier, argued that it was fair:

Roger Stone, a former campaign consultant to President Richard Nixon who now advises the anti-Prohibition party candidate Kristin Davis and once worked for Paladino, but no longer does, said neither he nor the Davis campaign produced the mailer. But Stone defended its content.

Stone said Redlich has "exotic views on sex with teens," citing postings on Redlich's blog. Stone also said Redlich is "crying crocodile tears" after calling Davis a prostitute, when the former Manhattan Madam has repeatedly said that although she ran a prostitution enterprise, she was never a prostitute.

The minor party candidates in New York have been appreciated for bringing some fun moments into an otherwise moribund campaign. Heck, anything is better than being forced to watch Paladino's face of death on the telly, and no one will ever forget the Rent Is Too Damn High candidate, whose party name alone said all that needed to be said. But this gutter politics, outright defamation, goes way too far. Way, way too far.

Given the views of many in the criminal defense community toward sex offender registries, the gross over-reach of sex offender laws and designations, and the unreasonable prohibitions heaped on those given our modern day demonization, there aren't many criminal defense blawgers who wouldn't be staring down a flier just like this should they run for office against someone sleazy enough to smear a candidate in this way.

What cannot be tolerated is the inability to express oneself in the blawgosphere on these controversial issues without exposing oneself to such a wholly unjustified and flagrantly false smear campaign. To say that whoever did this is a disgrace is insufficient. The line has been crossed by a mile.

The Daily Telegraph Gets It, Why Can't The New York Times?

This piece by Janet Daley in the British Paper The Daily Telegraph captures the real mood of the nation on the eve of this historic election.

Its a shame that America's print media has slipped so far into the ditch of progressive ideology, that its now completely incapable of producing any objective pieces on political phenomena.

H/T Left Coast Rebel

Midterm elections 2010: Prepare for a new American revolution

Popular rage against the elite could change the nature of US politics, says Janet Daley.

By Janet Daley
Published: 9:00PM BST 30 Oct 2010

More than three centuries ago, the residents of America staged a rebellion against an oppressive ruler who taxed them unjustly, ignored their discontents and treated their longing for freedom with contempt. They are about to revisit that tradition this week, when their anger and exasperation sweep through Congress like avenging angels. This time the hated oppressor isn't a foreign colonial government, but their own professional political class.

In New York last week I was struck by the startling shift of mood since my last visit, during Barack Obama's first year in office. This phenomenon took varying forms, of course, depending on the political orientation of my interlocutor, but the underlying theme of despair and disgust was almost universal. Liberal Democrats (who hugely outnumber most other factions in that city) were despondent and disappointed with the collapse of Obama's popularity. A few of them (remarkably few, actually) were ready to blame this on a "Right-wing conspiracy" of vaguely racist motivation. But most of them were frankly critical of the strategic mistakes they believed the White House had made, and the baffling inability of their President to connect with the people in an engaging way. His shocking lack of emotional expression during last month's commemoration of 9/11 – a point of particular significance to New Yorkers – was remarked upon by a number of people I met.

There was a general sense that his personality was over-controlled and repressed, and that this was perhaps a function of his self-invention: the effect of having made a conscious choice to adopt an identity and a history (the Chicago black activist) which was unconnected to his real past. It occurred to me that, in an odd way, he was a Gatsby-like figure who had reinvented himself but whose new persona could be sustained only with a tremendous act of will. This psychological analysis seemed not unconnected to the political one, which revolved around his peculiar inability to sense what most Americans would regard as alienating and contrary to their own values and culture.

My Republican friends, perhaps surprisingly, were not gloating. They were too furious. But contrary to the superficial British assumption (heavily promoted by the BBC), they were not devoting their excoriation exclusively to the Obama Administration – or even to its clique of Congressional henchmen, led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. That they were opposed to the Big State, European social democratic model of government which Obama had imported to Washington went almost without saying. But they were at least as angry with the leadership of their own party for having conceded far too much of the argument.

And this anger – again, contrary to the general understanding in Britain – is not new: it goes all the way back to the Bush presidency. It was widely known in Europe that the American Left hated George Bush (and even more, Dick Cheney) because of his military adventurism. What was less understood was that the Right disliked him almost as much for selling the pass over government spending, bailing out the banks, and failing to keep faith with the fundamental Republican principle of containing the power of central government.

So the Republicans are, if anything, as much in revolt against the establishment within their own party as they are against the Democrats. And this is what the Tea Parties (which should always be referred to in the plural, because they are not a monolithic movement) are all about: they are not just a reaction against a Left-liberal president but a repudiation of the official Opposition as well.

Nor are they simply the embodiment of reactionary social conservatism, which has been the last redoubt of the traditional Republican Right. There were plenty of people in New York who wanted to believe that Tea Partiers were just a new incarnation of the gun-totin', gay-bashing right-to-lifers whom they found it so easy to dismiss as risible throwbacks. This is a huge political miscalculation, which quite misses the point of what makes the Congressional midterm elections this week such an interesting and historic political event. This is so much more than the predictable to-ing and fro-ing of party control midway through a presidential term. What the grassroots rebellion is really about is an attempt to pull the Republican party back to its basic philosophy of low-tax, low-spend, small government: the great Jeffersonian principle that the best government is that which governs least.

One of the more electorally far-reaching effects of this is that Republicanism could become the home once again of a plausible political and economic programme, rather than simply an outpost for those who seem to reject many of the features of modern life. The gun-toters and gay-bashers and pro-lifers may have jumped aboard the bandwagon, and Sarah Palin may be frantically attaching herself to the parade, but this is not their show: the Tea Party protests began (as their name suggests) as a campaign against high taxation and the illegitimate intrusiveness of federal powers. That is what they are still about.

As some astute commentators have observed, the ascendancy of the Tea Parties has meant that fiscal conservatism can replace social conservatism as the raison d'être of the Republican cause. So rather than being a threat to Republicanism, the election of Tea Party candidates might be its salvation. It represents a rank-and-file rejection of what many Americans see as a conspiracy of the governing elite against ordinary working people. All of which makes clearer the appeal of even the naivety and inexperience of some of the Tea Party contenders who have challenged incumbent Republican candidates. If what you are rebelling against is a generation of smug, out-of-touch professional politicians, then a little dose of amateurishness or innocence might strike you as positively refreshing. (In a poll last week, more than 50 per cent of voters said that they would be more willing this year than usual to vote for someone with little political experience.)

The Democrats, too, are experiencing internal turmoil, with the Blue Dog congressmen (who represent conservative Democratic states) having to fight all their natural instincts to support Obama's healthcare and cap-and-trade policies. If they are annihilated in these midterm elections, their resentment against the White House will be terrible to behold. This could be a seminal moment in American post-war history, when popular rage against the political elite brings about realignments within parties which change the whole nature of the country's democratic choices.

The New American Hero: You!

Be an American Hero

H/T Judy Aron at Consent of the Governed

Daniel Hannan Interview on his New Book The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America

Click the linked image above to see a genuinely great 5 segment interview with Daniel Hannan discussing his new book that warns Americans to refuse to go down the road that America's Democrat and Republican statists are doing their very best to herd us down. Definitely worth the time it takes to watch all five segments....

Barney Frank, The Fat Fox Guarding the Hen House

More Fun Facts from OpenSecrets.org, This time from Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District Race featuring 30 year incumbent, Barney Frank vs. newcomer Sean Bielat.

Below you'll see that the people sending the most money to Frank are those who work in and/around the very same industry he regulates.

The counter-intuitive truth about regulations is that they most help those who are the richest players in the regulated industry. How's that work? Because the cost of compliance acts as a barrier to entrance to start-ups.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Barney doesn't really want his liberal constituents understanding who pulls his strings.

Top Industries

2010 Race: Massachusetts District 04

Most members of Congress get the bulk of their campaign contributions from two main sources: the industries that make up the economic base of their home district and the Washington-based interest groups that pay more attention to the member's committee assignments in Congress. In addition, most Democrats receive substantial sums from labor unions.

From this table, you can get a flavor of which are the top industries giving to the candidates running for Congress in your district. Do the industries match your local economy, or are they more Washington-based? If the latter, the candidate may have divided loyalties on issues where the interests of their cash constituents conflict with those of the voters who elected them.

Barney Frank (D)

Industry	Total
Securities & Investment	$251,958
Insurance	$227,449
Real Estate	$213,750
Lawyers/Law Firms	$170,714
Retired	$123,771
Misc Finance	$102,750
Democratic/Liberal	$71,837
Commercial Banks	$70,800
Casinos/Gambling	$61,400
Lobbyists	$56,800
Accountants	$42,950
Business Services	$35,750
General Contractors	$30,350
Misc Unions	$27,500
Finance/Credit Companies	$24,000
Health Professionals	$23,080
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing	$22,900
Education	$22,150
Printing & Publishing	$21,700
Hospitals/Nursing Homes	$21,190

Sean D. Bielat (R)

Industry	Total
Retired	$46,750
Securities & Investment	$35,600
Lawyers/Law Firms	$21,826
Misc Finance	$12,850
Real Estate	$11,950
Misc Business	$10,500
Health Professionals	$7,050
TV/Movies/Music	$6,800
Commercial Banks	$6,450
Civil Servants/Public Officials	$6,150
Business Services	$6,150
Computers/Internet	$3,500
Printing & Publishing	$3,400
Accountants	$3,100
Education	$2,500
Insurance	$2,500
Chemical & Related Manufacturing	$2,250
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing	$2,000
Oil & Gas	$1,750
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products	$1,650

Himes vs. Debicella: Where the Money is Coming From

Fun Facts on the Himes vs Debicella Race in Connecticut's 4th from OpenSecrets.org. Here's a rundown on where Jim Himes and Dan Debicella are getting their campaign funds. And the Democrats keep telling us they're the party of "the little guy". Yeah!

Click the hyperlink above to go to the page I culled this data from. From there you can click on various tabs to see the data broken down in a number of helpful ways, such as which industry sectors provide most of the cash.

Top Contributors

Jim Himes (D) *

Contributor	Total
General Electric	$48,050
Goldman Sachs	$22,850
Metropolitan Museum of Art	$19,200
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co	$16,800
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance	$15,000
United Technologies	$15,000
Tudor Investment	$14,800
Credit Suisse Group	$13,900
Bank of America	$12,900
Deutsche Bank AG	$12,600
Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder	$12,600
PricewaterhouseCoopers	$12,500
Teamsters Union	$12,500
First Marblehead Corp	$11,100
JPMorgan Chase & Co	$11,050
Credit Union National Assn	$11,000
Travelers Companies	$11,000
Citigroup Inc	$10,300
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees	$10,000
American Resort Development Assn	$10,000
AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America	$10,000
BRIDGE PAC	$10,000
Hartford Financial Services	$10,000
Honeywell International	$10,000
IMS Health	$10,000
International Assn of Fire Fighters	$10,000
Investment Co Institute	$10,000
KPMG LLP	$10,000
National Assn of Letter Carriers	$10,000
National Assn of Realtors	$10,000
New Democrat Coalition	$10,000
New York Life Insurance	$10,000
Operating Engineers Union	$10,000
PAC to the Future	$10,000
Service Employees International Union	$10,000
Sullivan & Cromwell	$10,000
Synergy PAC	$10,000
UNITE HERE	$10,000
USAA	$10,000

Dan Debicella (R)

Contributor	Total
Wexford Capital	$22,800
PepsiCo Inc	$14,800
Haebler Capital	$14,400
Bank of America	$14,255
McKinsey & Co	$12,850
Kamber Management	$12,600
Laverack Partners	$12,000
State of Connecticut	$11,163
General Atlantic Partners	$10,900
Axiom International Investors	$10,204
O'Shaughnessy Asset Management	$10,100
Cowen Healthcare Royalty	$9,600
Rangeley Capital	$9,600
Southgate Alternative Investment	$9,600
Morgan Stanley	$9,550
Impala Asset Management	$9,150
Edgewood Management	$8,700
Round Hill Capital-Atlanta	$8,275
JPMorgan Chase & Co	$8,250
Auspex Group	$8,200

“Rally to Resore Sanity” pledges to “strictly prohibit filming” at National Mall | Washington Examiner

Un-Flippin Believable.

More proof the narcissistic leftards think they alone are entitled under the 1st Amendment and bestowed with a right of exclusive access to FEDERAL land.

To paraphrase the old Kix Cereal commercials (and betray my age-group in the process): SILLY LEFTISTS, FREEDOM IS FOR EVERYONE

What follows is an email exchange between Steve Albani at Comedy Central and Richard Pollock at Pajamas Media

From: “Albani, Steve”
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:59:27 -0400
To: Richard Pollock
Subject: RE: DC Rally Update

Richard – you should have received notification yesterday. Unfortunately, due to extremely limited riser locations, we are not able to accommodate your request for credentials. However, the event is free and open to public so we encourage you to attend with the general audience.

Please note, taping for television or any other filming is strictly prohibited between 3rd and 7th Street without a media credential. The event will be broadcast live on Comedy Central and comedycentral.com and a clean feed will also be available by satellite – coordinates will be released when they are available. Please contact Renata Luczak to receive the satellite coordinates.

From: Richard Pollock
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 3:14 PM
To: Albani, Steve
Subject: Re: DC Rally Update

Dear Steve,

Thanks for your reply. Can we get media credentials without a riser position?

Yours,

Richard

From: Albani, Steve
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 3:15 PM
To: Richard Pollock
Subject: RE: DC Rally Update

The only camera crews that will receive credentials are those for the riser. We are not issuing any other TV credentials.

Sorry.

Steve

From: “Richard Pollock”
Date: Oct 29, 2010 6:33 PM
Subject: RE: DC Rally Update
To: “Albani, Steve”

Hi Steve,

Well your risers, you own. As Comedy Central, you have property rights and complete control over that. No one will deny you that. We are content, though disappointed with your decision to withhold media credentials to us.

However, the last I heard the First Amendment still does apply to America. It not only applies to TV hosts, show producers and to networks, but extends to the public and to events held on federal land. Yes, public lands! Although it may not make any sense to you at this moment, the National Mall is not a TV set, although it may look like one.

As the former chief Washington producer for ABC’s “Good Morning America” for nine years, let me assure you that you cannot bar cameras from public walkways on the Mall. It has never happened.

And so we will be there crew and all.

It does seem a bit incredulous that a rally for “reasonableness” should exclude freely based camera crews exercising their First Amendment rights to cover your attendees walking on public property. Unless this is Prague in 1968. And unless Comedy Central own tanks. Or unless it deploys a Comedy Police with enforcement powers.

On the other hand maybe I got this all wrong…I thought you were merely trying to be clever when you said it was a rally for fear. If is that, then I certainly understand your attitudes and rules.

See you tomorrow!

All the best,

Richard

Read more at the Washington Examiner:

“Rally to Resore Sanity” pledges to “strictly prohibit filming” at National Mall | Washington Examiner

Ahhh, Now the Swedes Have Come to Understand that Al Gore is an Entitled Blowhard Hypocrite

Here's a fun piece on how some Europeans are waking up to the B.S. spewing out of America's environmental left.

Einar: Over here, we've known about Al Bore's hypocrisy for quite a long time. If only you'd asked, we'd have happily told you all about him, but better late than never.

Frankly Sir, You Are an Embarrassment

Posted: 27 Oct 2010 10:35 AM PDT
By Einar Du Rietz

Al Gore -- He did it again.

Recently, Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore toured again. Or maybe he does that all the time. This time, he turned up in Gothenburg (Sweden) for the usual alarmist talk. In advance, all distinguished guests were politely advised to – if possible – use any form of public transportation to go to the event, in order to minimize CO2 emissions.

Intriguingly, the Master of World Climate himself arrived in a rental car (with or without driver is unclear), from the airport, and subsequently left the engine running for the entire lecture. That is to say, about one hour. Incidentally, local legislation prohibits – for very good environmental reasons, i e pollution – any car engine running on empty for more than 60 seconds. Fines are severe. As far as I know, he was not fined.

It starts to form a pattern.

After the ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo, it is customary that the laureate is invited to the Swedish capital Stockholm, for a cordial visit. The train ride, supposedly the environmental choice according to Mr. Gore, is approximately four hours. However, he opted for the cosier ride with one of the Swedish government aircrafts. As these can, according to the rules, only be used when a cabinet member is on board – and as the Swedish government after a short ceremonial visit – offered to fly him to Frankfurt (Germany) for his flight to the US, you can calculate both the manpower and the fuel used for this grand tour against man's destruction of the planet.

Stupidity and hypocracy [sic] – as well as vanity – are, like it or not common human traits. I admit to some of them occasionally, but I don't demand taxpayers to finance my stupid talks at dinner (yes, I love doing that). Here's the deal Mr Gore: get out of my way, and I will keep out of yours.

Michelle Malkin to Joy Behar: "That’ll be Senator Bitch to you, Joy."

Great post up at Michelle Malkin's site....

Behar: So what? I call all my close friends “bitches”

Years ago, when stuck in traffic, I used to hear talent-less Joy Behar spew on WABC radio. As I remember it, she was on for a year. I believe the suits at WABC let her contract lapse without renewal. I'm guessing Barbara Walters will be increasingly inclined to do the same.

Dan Malloy: Pay to Play Politics Raises Serious Ethics Questions

I just came across this eye-opening video by Maureen Boylan on Dan Malloy's 14 year tenure as Mayor of Stamford. I had been pretty ambivalent over the Governor race here in Connecticut but now I'll be voting for Tom Foley.

Things That Make Ya Go Hmmmmmm.....

Combing through Drudge's titles this morning, I found this curious piece from CNBC.

Insider Selling Volume at Highest Level Ever Tracked

BEHIND THE MONEY, JOHN MELLOY, CNBC, FAST MONEY, FAST MONEY RAPID RECAP, RAPID RECAP, "FAST MONEY", STOCKS, STOCK ANALYSIS, STOCK ADVICE, STOCK MARKET, BUSINESS NEWS, MARKET NEWS, WALL STREET, INVESTING, FINANCIAL NEWS, RETIREMENT ADVICE, PERSONAL FINANCE, ECONOMY

Posted By: John Melloy | Executive Producer, Fast Money

CNBC.com

| 26 Oct 2010 | 02:26 PM ET

The overwhelming volume of sell transactions relative to buy transactions by company insiders over the last six months in key leading sectors of the market is the worst Alan Newman, editor of the Crosscurrents newsletter, has ever seen since he began tracking the data.

The strategist looked at insider trading activity amongst the top ten companies that make up the Nasdaq such as Apple , Google and Amazon .

Then he analyzed the biggest members of the Retail HOLDRs ETF like Gap , Target and Costco , as well as the top insiders in the semiconductor industry at companies such as Altera , Broadcom and Sandisk .

The largest companies in three of the most important leading sectors of the market have seen their executives classified as insiders sell more than 120 million shares of stock over the last six months. Top executives at these very same companies bought just 38,000 shares over that same time period, making for an eye-popping sell to buy ratio of 3,177 to one.

The grand total for the three sectors are “as awful as we have ever seen since we began doing this exercise years ago,” said Newman, who was ahead on such trends as the dangers of high-frequency trading and ETFs before the ‘Flash Crash’. “Clearly, insiders are seeing great value only in cash. Their actions speak volumes for the veracity for the current rally.”

But the overall market doesn’t seem to care. The S&P 500 is up 16 percent since its 2010 low hit on July 2nd on the back of strong earnings driven by cost-cutting and the hopes for even more quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve.

The insider data “is good reason for considerable caution once the price action fades,” said Simon Baker, CEO of Baker Asset Management. Still “insiders normally buy early and sell early too. Longer term -- 12 months out -- it is more of a red flag.”

Newman isn’t alone in warning about insider selling. The latest report from Vickers Weekly Insider, a publication that makes investments based upon these transactions, shows that total insider sell transactions relative to purchases on the New York Stock Exchange are running at a ratio of more than four to one over the last eight weeks. The normal reading, because of options selling and other factors, is about 2 sales for every buy, according to Vickers.

To be sure, many investors feel the heavy insider selling is just an anomaly based on other reasons.

“These are folks that have had to dip into their stocks for the first time in years, as their salaries have been cut and their bonuses, outside Wall Street, have been significantly curtailed,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade. “ This may speak more to a cash flow problem, then a market belief.”

Still Newman, who is also a favorite commentator of Barron’s columnist Alan Abelson, sees the insider selling as just the latest reason, along with the mortgage foreclosure mess and fully invested mutual fund managers with no fresh powder to put to work, to be cautious on the market.

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we expect a significant correction,” said the newsletter editor.

I'm no market genius; alas, its just not part of my skill set. Still, this one tells me that lots of smart money-wise types are expecting a shit-storm to hit soon. What do you bet Soros is silently making a killing on our backs, YET AGAIN.

UPDATE: Perhaps this explains it.



Aren't most of these corporate insiders DEMOCRATS who are all for the Sunsetting of the Bush "Tax Cuts?"

The Other McCain: Good-Bye California

The Other McCain has a great post up titled Good-Bye California that says it all about the naivete of republican candidates in the once great California Republic.

My only complaint: the moderator didn't publish my comment. Such is life.

Update: Comment published.

Jerry Brown: Documented Self-Admitted Liar

Jeff Dunetz at Yid with Lid, just put up what ought to be an EXPLOSIVE post on Jerry Brown's 1992 Televised admission that he LIED while running for Governor of California in the 1970's. Now there's a big surprise: Democrats lie!

Here's the exchange:

Interviewer: You said something a moment ago that I have to follow up on and I have to draw you out on. You said you don’t have to lie anymore now that you’re not a politician. What did you lie about when you were governor?

Jerry Brown: It’s all a lie. You’re pretending there’s a plan…

Interviewer: What did you lie about?

Jerry Brown: You run for office and the assumption is “Oh, I know what to do”. You don’t. I didn’t have a plan for California. Clinton doesn’t have a plan. Bush doesn’t have a plan.

Interviewer: You said you had a plan for California and you lied because you didn’t have a plan?

Jerry Brown: You say you’re going to lower taxes, you’re going to put people to work, you’re gonna improve the schools, you’re going to stop crime… crime is up, schools are worse, taxes are higher. I mean be real!

RULE 4 Post: Look Who Visits Libertarian Advocate

Click the image to see the stat

I had thought this humble blog would trudge along in nearly complete obscurity forever, but NO! Someone's taken notice.

Thanks for the visit Cathy Zoi. You've provided me with the perfect opportunity to engage in some Rule 1 Shameless Blogwhoring and Rule 2 Full Metal Jacket Reach-Around

Iran Islamists Curb Western-based Educational Programs

Tolerance toward, understanding of, and dialogue with Islam is a central tenet of America's loony left academics and intellectuals. So why is it that Iran's ISLAMISTS won't return the favor to America's Left?

The Russians had a term for American Leftists during the cold war: Useful Idiots. Seems like there hasn't been too much CHANGE after all.

Iran restricts social sciences seen as 'Western'

NASSER KARIMI

From Associated Press

October 24, 2010 10:03 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday.

The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology, political science and the two subjects that appear to cause the most concern among Iran's conservative leadership — women's studies and human rights.

....

DUNCE CAP AWARD: Plagiarist in Chief Joe Biden

There he goes again, misstating reality....

From The New York Times Caucus Blog

October 22, 2010, 3:07 pm

$200 Billion in Ads, Mr. Biden? That’s Real Money

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Conservative groups have not dumped $200 billion in political ads on the heads of Democratic candidates.

It evidently just feels that way to the White House.

In an interview with Al Hunt of Bloomberg News scheduled to be shown Friday night, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commented on the need for disclosure when corporate interests contribute to political groups.

“I was amazed at the amount of money, this $200 billion of money that is — where there’s no accountability,” he said. “When I say accountability, we don’t know where it’s coming from. There’s no disclosure, so the folks watching the ad can’t make a judgment based upon motive when you say it’s paid for by so-and-so.”

Mr. Biden clearly meant “million” with an “M,” not “billion” with a “B.”

But his tongue slipped again a moment later. “So it really — I’ve never seen this before, so the only caveat I’d put in terms of the House is how much impact this $200 billion are going to mean.”

Mr. Biden was elected to the United States Senate, representing Delaware, a few years after the departure of Everett Dirksen, the Republican Senate minority leader for more than a decade, who died in 1969. It was Mr. Dirksen, from Illinois, who once said, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.”

... and the left make fun of Sarah Palin????

How to Spot A Liar - Look for the smirk, and then the correction.

A clip of Harry Reid on the Ed Schultz Show is embedded below. Watch the timing of Harry Reid's expressions as he goes through his narcissistic explanation of how he alone averted a worldwide depression.

H/T Breitbart TV

Randy Barnett, Georgetown U Law School Prof and Senior Fellow at Cato Institute and Goldwater Institute on Obamacare Individual Mandate

Embedded below is a very fascinating discussion by Georgetown University Law Prof. Randy Barnett who is also a Senior Fellow at the Cato and Goldwater Institutes. The address was delivered very recently at N.Y.U Law school's annual Friedrich A. von Hayek Lecture.

Prof. Barnett discusses his view that the Individual Mandate compelled under ObamaCare is in fact unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The clip is long, but well worth listening to because Barnett provides an illuminating discussion of Supreme Court ruling history on the Commerce and Necessary & Proper clauses.

Enjoy!

H/T Becky Chandler & Randy Barnett, posting at the Volokh Conspiracy

Left Coast Rebel: Send Rover to the Dog House... Permanently

Click the link below for an interesting discussion on recent Carl Rove comments regarding the "sophistication" of the "Tea Party" movement vs. the Reagan Revolution By RightKlick at Left Coast Rebel


Left Coast Rebel: Send Rover to the Dog House... Permanently