I was totally thrilled and grateful to receive a press pass from the Perry campaign for the Governor's Super Sunday event February 7th in Cypress, TX, featuring the inimitable Sarah Palin.
It was like attending a rock concert what with the thousands in a line that wrapped around the huge Berry Center, Ted Nugent performing the anthem, and the press's flashbulbs everywhere.
Sarah Palin did not disappoint and not only thrilled the crowd but did it in a kickin' pair of boots. (That's my girl.) Perry ended it by awarding Palin honorary Texan status... which makes perfect sense.
YouTube - Sarah Palin Rocks Texas For Governor Perry
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
Get a Handle On This Scandal : Sarah Palin Gives The Media A Hand
I cannot believe that the silly left has had the temerity to knock Sarah Palin for a few words written on her hand for her speech in Nashville on Sunday. Whaddabunchamaroons.
She gave a rousing 41-minute speech... and here are the notes:
That's an issue?
Let me remind them:
Obama with TelePromTers to talk to a dozen or so people.
Sarah Palin, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, is an excellent public speaker. I love the fact that she's able to speak extemporaneously with just a few key words written on her hand. Bambi has used his TOTUSes for 3-minute intros. 3-MINUTE INTROS!
Palin also has a magnificent sense of humor. These pictures are from her appearance in Texas yesterday:
What does that say on her hand?
Hi Mom!
Hahahahaha.
(I will post video of the event later today.)
And NPR weighs in:
By Mark Memmott
So, there's been some buzz in the liberal blogosphere and on CNN over photos and video that show Sarah Palin had some notes written in the palm of her left hand when she was on stage Saturday evening at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville.
As the liberal Huffington Post shows, the words were "energy","tax", "lift American spirits" and "budget cuts" with the word "budget" crossed out.
And as this video clip posted by the equally liberal Think Progress highlights, during the Q&A the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee certainly seems to take a glance at her hand just before mentioning some of those points:
OK, so she did something that millions of Americans probably do when they've got something they need to remember. Is it as odd as what President Barack Obama did last month when he spoke to an elementary school class in Falls Church, Va.? As The Daily Show's Jon Stewart so skillfully skewered, the president brought along a teleprompter (note: there is one bleeped Stewart expletive):
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Obama Speaks to a Sixth-Grade Classroom
Daily Show
Full EpisodesPolitical Humor Health Care Crisis
There's a poll that follows... which is worse, the hand or the PrompTer: Palin Writes On Her Hand, Obama Uses A Teleprompter: Any Difference? - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR
Friday, February 05, 2010
Today's Unspun with AnnaZ on Blog Talk Radio: Robbin My Hood The State of Taxes w/Talmadge Heflin
If you have to pay taxes forever on your property or lose it, do you ever really own it?
Former Republican State Representative Talmadge Heflin, now with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, joins me to discuss his latest editorial "Yes, Texas Can End The Property Tax". Governor Perry seems doubtful... see my interview with him where he mentions the topic here.
+ Your Calls during the second half and the week in review.
Live at 3pmE/2pmTX/NoonP
Call-in number: (347) 327-9710
Click here to listen live: Robbin My Hood The State of Taxes w/Talmadge Heflin 2/5/2010 - Unspun with AnnaZ on Blog Talk Radio
Show archives available here, podcasts available at iTunes here.
Obama's Kenyan aunt plead[s] with judge not to throw her out of America
I thought the story was that she was living in public housing here in the U.S. She doesn't dress like she lives in public housing. Even for a court date.
Barack Obama’s Kenyan ‘auntie’ appealed last night to an immigration judge not to throw her out of America.
Zeituni Onyango, 57, who turned up to the hearing in a wheelchair, was expected to claim that her relationship to the president would make her a target in her homeland’s unstable political climate.
But the hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts ended without an immediate decision in her second bid for asylum in the U.SMs Onyango arrived at the heavily guarded hearing at the U.S. Immigration Court in Boston, Massachusetts in a wheelchair
Ms Onyango may have to wait some time before Judge Leonard Shapiro makes a ruling as lawyers have 30 days to file written closing briefs.
The hearing may be continued on May 25 if there is no decision before then.
'The hearing went well. She was very honest. She was very to the point,' her lawyer, Margaret Wong, said afterwards
Mrs Wong said Ms Onyango is hopeful the judge will rule in her favour because 'she really wants to stay in America.'
Two doctors also testified in support of the case, reportedly to provide medical reasons why Ms Onyango should stay in the country.
Mrs Wong declined afterwards to discuss specifics of the case before a judge's decisionBarack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango leaves the immigration hearing with a companion yesterday
While Ms Onyango arrived at the heavily guarded hearing in a wheelchair with a cane across her lap, she used the cane to walk to a waiting car afterwards.
Last year Ms Onyango revealed she is disabled and learning to walk again after being paralysed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.
The computer programmer almost derailed her famous nephew’s presidential campaign when it emerged that she had been living illegally in the U.S. after defying a deportation order in 2004.
The half-sister of Mr Obama’s late father moved to America a decade ago but her first asylum appeal was rejected.
The president affectionately referred to Ms Onyango as ‘Auntie Zeituni’ in his memoir Dreams From My Father and described meeting her during a 1988 trip to Kenya.
But he has adamantly denied that he knew his aunt was living in the U.S. and said she would not get any special treatment.
EnlargeFamily affair: Barack Obama receives a kiss from wife Michelle at a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington yesterday.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
I Don't Have A Lot Of Shoes... Lindsay Lohan Has A LOT Of Shoes!
Apparently she has hoarder issues. lol.
Clutter: Hundreds of boxes of shoes make one bedroom a no-go area in Lindsay Lohan's luxury Los Angeles mansion
| Mail Online
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Some Leno Lolz : 01/29/2010
Loved these.
In London, a $500,000,000 British-American backed fund was proposed to pay the Taliban to stop fighting. The good news is, America is creating jobs. Sure, they’re all for terrorists, but we’re making jobs.
Osama bin Laden has released another tape today blaming the United States for global warming. You can tell he’s running out of ideas if that’s the best he’s got. Even the United States blames the Unites States for global warming. Sounds like he wants to quit al-Qaida and join Al Gore.
Scientist at UCLA have announced that they’ve found the lowest form of life: John Edwards.
Elizabeth Edwards announced that she and John have separated. So it looks like it’s not just Nancy Pelosi that’s going to lose the house this year.
Super Creepy! ::: Ed Schultz on Visiting White House: 'Almost a Shrine' - to Obama
This is just really disturbing.
From Newsbusters:
Here's Schultz on his radio show Friday talking about meeting with Obama advisor David Axelrod at the White House the day before, along with fellow liberal radio host Bill Press and several other left-wing media types Schultz did not identify (click here for audio) --
SCHULTZ: First of all you walk into the White House, in the West Wing, and there are picture all over, I mean everywhere! Of President Obama! I mean, of his life in the first year as president of the United States. Now I don't know if that's the way it is with every president, but it was almost a shrine. I mean, well, here's a picture of Obama the president with his kids over here. There he is getting on Air Force One. Here he is with some military people. Here he is on the line working the line at one of his campaign stops. I mean, just, it was just one picture after another! (laughs) And so I got the message right away that there's nothing but Obama fans in the White House which I think is a good thing. 'Cause it's always good to have the team together, right? (laughs)
Quite interesting is how his ending laugh sounds a little nervous.
Even The New York Times! ::: Super Bowl Censorship
This editorial is by no means the knockout that Sally Jenkins wrote yesterday, but, regardless, it certainly goes to show how far from "choice" the "women's" movement has gone.
This was published over the weekend:
The commercials during the Super Bowl, a showcase for the best (or worst) in TV advertising, often generate buzz and sometimes outrage. This year, viewers will see one ad that has already triggered a heated debate about abortion and censorship.
The 30-second spot, financed by the conservative religious group Focus on the Family, is said to recount the pregnancy of Pam Tebow, mother of the college football star Tim Tebow. After falling ill during a mission to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child, who became the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner.
The National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America and other voices for protecting women’s reproductive freedom have called on CBS to yank it. Their protest is puzzling and dismaying.
A letter sent to CBS by the Women’s Media Center and other groups argues that the commercial “uses one family’s story to dictate morality to the American public, and encourages young women to disregard medical advice, putting their lives at risk” — a lame attempt to portray the ad as life-threatening. Others argue that even a mild discussion of such a divisive issue has no place in the marketing extravaganza known as the Super Bowl.
The would-be censors are on the wrong track. Instead of trying to silence an opponent, advocates for allowing women to make their own decisions about whether to have a child should be using the Super Bowl spotlight to convey what their movement is all about: protecting the right of women like Pam Tebow to make their private reproductive choices.
CBS was right to change its policy of rejecting paid advocacy commercials from groups other than political candidates. After the network screens ads for accuracy and taste, viewers can watch and judge for themselves. Or they can get up from the couch and get a sandwich.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
How's That Socialism Workin' For Ya? ::: (Canadian Premier) going to U.S. for heart surgery
I love it when leftist totems get struck a blow.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States.
CBC News confirmed Monday that Williams, 60, left the province earlier in the day and will have surgery later in the week.
The premier's office provided few details, beyond confirming that he would have heart surgery and saying that it was not necessarily a routine procedure.
Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale is scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.
She's expected to provide more details about Williams's condition, as well as how the provincial government will function during his absence.
CBC reporter David Cochrane said Williams appeared to be in good health recently. He described the premier as "fairly active," playing pick-up hockey at least once a week when work permits.
Lots of discussion going on here: CBC News - Nfld. & Labrador - Danny Williams going to U.S. for heart surgery
Editorial Of The Day! ::: Tebow's Super Bowl ad isn't intolerant; its critics are: Sally Jenkins/WaPo
Worth reading through to the end. Simply magnificent.
I'll spit this out quick, before the armies of feminism try to gag me and strap electrodes to my forehead: Tim Tebow is one of the better things to happen to young women in some time. I realize this stance won't endear me to the "Dwindling Organizations of Ladies in Lockstep," otherwise known as DOLL, but I'll try to pick up the shards of my shattered feminist credentials and go on.
As statements at Super Bowls go, I prefer the idea of Tebow's pro-life ad to, say, Jim McMahon dropping his pants, as the former Chicago Bears quarterback once did in response to a question. We're always harping on athletes to be more responsible and engaged in the issues of their day, and less concerned with just cashing checks. It therefore seems more than a little hypocritical to insist on it only if it means criticizing sneaker companies, and to stifle them when they take a stance that might make us uncomfortable.
I'm pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the "National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time." For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do.
Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion. Pam Tebow has a genuine pro-choice story to tell. She got pregnant in 1987, post-Roe v. Wade, and while on a Christian mission in the Philippines, she contracted a tropical ailment. Doctors advised her the pregnancy could be dangerous, but she exercised her freedom of choice and now, 20-some years later, the outcome of that choice is her beauteous Heisman Trophy winner son, a chaste, proselytizing evangelical.
Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn't be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn't.
There's not enough space in the sports pages for the serious weighing of values that constitutes this debate, but surely everyone in both camps, pro-choice or pro-life, wishes the "need" for abortions wasn't so great. Which is precisely why NOW is so wrong to take aim at Tebow's ad.
Here's what we do need a lot more of: Tebows. Collegians who are selfless enough to choose not to spend summers poolside, but travel to impoverished countries to dispense medical care to children, as Tebow has every summer of his career. Athletes who believe in something other than themselves, and are willing to put their backbone where their mouth is. Celebrities who are self-possessed and self-controlled enough to use their wattage to advertise commitment over decadence.
You know what we really need more of? Famous guys who aren't embarrassed to practice sexual restraint, and to say it out loud. If we had more of those, women might have fewer abortions. See, the best way to deal with unwanted pregnancy is to not get the sperm in the egg and the egg implanted to begin with, and that is an issue for men, too -- and they should step up to that.
"Are you saving yourself for marriage?" Tebow was asked last summer during an SEC media day.
"Yes, I am," he replied.
The room fell into a hush, followed by tittering: The best college football player in the country had just announced he was a virgin. As Tebow gauged the reaction from the reporters in the room, he burst out laughing. They were a lot more embarrassed than he was.
"I think y'all are stunned right now!" he said. "You can't even ask a question!"
That's how far we've come from any kind of sane viewpoint about star athletes and sex. Promiscuity is so the norm that if a stud isn't shagging everything in sight, we feel faintly ashamed for him.
Obviously Tebow can make people uncomfortable, whether it's for advertising his chastity, or for wearing his faith on his face via biblical citations painted in his eye-black. Hebrews 12:12, his cheekbones read during the Florida State game: "Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." His critics find this intrusive, and say the Super Bowl is no place for an argument of this nature. "Pull the ad," NOW President Terry O'Neill said. "Let's focus on the game."
Trouble is, you can't focus on the game without focusing on the individuals who play it -- and that is the genius of Tebow's ad. The Super Bowl is not some reality-free escape zone. Tebow himself is an inescapable fact: Abortion doesn't just involve serious issues of life, but of potential lives, Heisman trophy winners, scientists, doctors, artists, inventors, Little Leaguers -- who would never come to be if their birth mothers had not wrestled with the stakes and chosen to carry those lives to term. And their stories are every bit as real and valid as the stories preferred by NOW.
Let me be clear again: I couldn't disagree with Tebow more. It's my own belief that the state has no business putting its hand under skirts. But I don't care that we differ. Some people will care that the ad is paid for by Focus on the Family, a group whose former spokesman, James Dobson, says loathsome things about gays. Some will care that Tebow is a creationist. Some will care that CBS has rejected a gay dating service ad. None of this is the point. CBS owns its broadcast and can run whatever advertising it wants, and Tebow has a right to express his beliefs publicly. Just as I have the right to reject or accept them after listening -- or think a little more deeply about the issues. If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem.
Tebow's ad, by the way, never mentions abortion; like the player himself, it's apparently soft-spoken. It simply has the theme "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." This is what NOW has labeled "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning." But if there is any demeaning here, it's coming from NOW, via the suggestion that these aren't real questions, and that we as a Super Bowl audience are too stupid or too disinterested to handle them on game day.
Monday, February 01, 2010
So There! ::: Judge:FDA Has No Authority Over Electronic Cigarettes / WSJ
I love the battle brewing all over the place over the e-cigarettes. It really puts to test the lie that the gov doesn't want people to smoke... they're more addicted to the tax revenues than folks are to nicotine. I hope everybody starts smoking these things. lol.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A U.S. judge said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't have authority to regulate electronic cigarettes, dealing a blow to the agency's efforts to regulate tobacco products as drugs or devices.
In a 32-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon sided with electronic-cigarette makers Smoking Everywhere Inc. and NJoy in finding that the FDA has no authority to regulate the products and can't stop them from entering the country.
Lamestream Media Pwned Again ::: Statement from James O’Keefe / Big Government
Eye-rollingly typical leftist drive-by behavior. I can't wait to see the video, but know who won't be showing it.
Hahahahaha.
Read the rest here: Statement from James O’Keefe - Big Government
The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.
As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.
I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.
Hahahahaha.
Read the rest here: Statement from James O’Keefe - Big Government
Weird! ::: Actor Rip Torn, 78, arrested, broke into bank drunk with loaded revolver
This doesn't make much sense to me... he wasn't part of the cast of Diff'rent Strokes.
Award-winning actor Rip Torn has been arrested after police found him intoxicated and armed inside a Connecticut bank at the weekend.
Torn, 78, was being held on $100,000 bond after officers responded to an alarm at the Litchfield Bank in Salisbury, the Connecticut town where the actor lives.
He was disciovered inside the closed bank 'with a loaded revolver' and 'highly intoxicated,' according to a police report.
Torn was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief and weapons charges.
The actor, who won an Emmy for 'The Larry Sanders Show' in 1992, has most recently appeared in several episodes of '30 Rock' as network head Don Geiss.
He starred in the hit film 'Men in Black' and its sequel, as well as scores of other films and television shows over six decades.
He was nominated for an Oscar for 'Cross Creek' in 1983, two years before his wife, Geraldine Page, won the Best Actress Oscar.
Torn, a cousin of actress Sissy Spacek, has been arrested several times in recent years for drunken driving and received a fine, license suspension or probation.
He was also acquitted of one charge.Here's a mugshot of his from a few years ago. It's no Nick Nolte, but almost.
Rip Torn in a New York State Police photo taken in 2006 after his arrest for driving while intoxicated
Actor Rip Torn, 78, arrested after he broke into a U.S. bank drunk with a loaded revolver
| Mail Online
Friday, January 29, 2010
This Is Not From The Onion ::: Justice Dept.: President Obama's administration may take action on BCS
Reading this just makes me embarrassed for all parties.
And then I just want to scream.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.
In the letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, obtained by The Associated Press, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote that the Justice Department is reviewing Hatch's request and other materials to determine whether to open an investigation into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws.
"Importantly, and in addition, the administration also is exploring other options that might be available to address concerns with the college football postseason," Weich wrote, including asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the legality of the BCS under consumer protection laws.
Several lawmakers and many critics want the BCS to switch to a playoff system, rather than the ratings system it uses to determine the teams that play in the championship game.
"The administration shares your belief that the current lack of a college football national championship playoff with respect to the highest division of college football ... raises important questions affecting millions of fans, colleges and universities, players and other interested parties," Weich wrote.
Weich made note of the fact that President Barack Obama, before he was sworn in, had stated his preference for a playoff system. In 2008, Obama said he was going to "to throw my weight around a little bit" to nudge college football toward a playoff system, a point that Hatch stressed when he urged Obama last fall to ask the department to investigate the BCS.
Weich said that other options include encouraging the NCAA to take control of the college football postseason; asking a governmental or non-governmental commission to review the costs, benefits and feasibility of a playoff system; and legislative efforts aimed at prompting a switch to a playoff system.
Weich noted that several undefeated teams have not had a chance to play for the national championship, including TCU and Boise State this year and Utah last year.
"This seemingly discriminatory action with regard to revenues and access have raised questions regarding whether the BCS potentially runs afoul of the nation's antitrust laws," he wrote.
Hatch, a Utah Republican, was steamed that his home state team was deprived of getting a chance to play for the title last year.
Here We Go Again ::: Erasing Ezekiel's Jewish identity (Iraqis To Build Mosque On Grave)
This is going on continually wherever the religion of peace and tolerance gets its way. The Temple, Joseph's tomb, churches all over Kosovo, and now this.
Iraq removing Hebrew inscriptions from tomb, mosque to be built on grave.
For centuries Jews, Christians and Muslims came to Al-Kifl, a small town south of Baghdad, to visit the tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel and pray.
The distinctive Jewish character of the Al-Kifl shrine, namely the Hebrew inscriptions and the Torah Ark, never bothered the gentile worshipers. In the 14th century a minaret was built next to the shrine, but the interior design remained Jewish. The vast majority of Iraq's Jewish community left some 60 years ago, but Shi'ites took good care of the holy site.
Until now.
Recently "Ur," a local Iraqi news agency, reported that a huge mosque will be built on top of the grave by Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage Authority, while Hebrew inscriptions and ornaments are being removed from the site, all as part of renovations.
Prof. Shmuel Moreh of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, winner of the 1999 Israel Prize in Middle Eastern studies and chairman of the Association of Jewish Academics from Iraq, speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, confirmed the report.
"I first heard the news of tomb desecration from a friend of mine who is a German scholar. After visiting the site he called me and said that some Hebrew inscriptions on the grave were covered by plaster and that a mosque is planned to be built on top of the tomb. He told me that he found the changes at the tomb disturbing and warned me that I'd better act quickly, before any irreversible damage will be inflicted," Moreh said.
"I had contacted Mr. Shelomo Alfassa, US director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, and told him about this situation. Then I saw the report from the Ur news agency, mentioning the decision of the Antiquities and Heritage Authority to build a mosque and to erase the Hebrew inscriptions and ornaments," Moreh said.
He asked friends to check out the developments at the site. The most recent to visit the shrine said that some of the inscriptions are now hidden by a layer of plaster.
Iraqi press reports claim that the building must be destroyed because of its poor condition. However, Alfassa believes that Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage Authority "has been pressured by Islamists to historically cleanse all evidence of a Jewish connection to Iraq - a land where Jews had lived for over a thousand years before the advent of Islam."
According to the Baghdad-born Moreh, many of the Muslims who visit the tomb today are unaware Ezekiel was a Jew.
Iraq, the biblical Aram Naharaim, is rich in Jewish religious sites. Not only Ezekiel is buried there, but also Ezra, Daniel, Nehemiah, Nahum and Jonah. (Another tomb attributed to Ezekiel is located in Dezful, in southwestern Iran.)
Soon after the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi authorities indicated that they intended to take good care of the Jewish sites, which might become an powerful tourist magnet. In May 2009, the Tourism Ministry declared that it intended to preserve all of Iraq's heritage sites, regardless of creed, and would soon begin the renovation of Ezekiel's tomb.
But the future of Jewish sacred sites looks grim in the intolerant current climate of post-Saddam Iraq, where only eight Jews are left, the Christian minority is severely persecuted by the fundamentalists and ancient Shi'ite mosques are blown up.
"Let's hope that the Jewish sites will be spared, but someone must intervene before it's too late," Moreh warned.
A Few Lolz To Be Had ::: Jon Stewart on Chris Matthews: Speech Therapy Post-Racial
At least someone is talking about Chris Matthews's outrageous statement about "forgetting Obama was black for an hour". I wish Limbaugh would have said it so that we could have discussed at length the insanity behind such a ridiculous remark.
The Left is the side more obsessed with race, always and forever. One of these days that truth will be commonly accepted. I hope.
Stossel: Try Googling It, Mr. President
Seems simple enough of a suggestion.
Try Googling It, Mr. President : John StosselDuring the President's State of the Union, Obama laid down a challenge to opponents of his health care plan:
If anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.
This is a tiring theme from the President: Pretend your opponents don't have their own ideas. As Reason's Peter Suderman put it, "Here, Obama, Let Me Google Some Health-Care Reform Alternatives For You":
It's simply not true that reform opponents haven't offered solutions. Here's what I could come up with in about two minutes on the Google:
In The Wall Street Journal, John Mackey suggested eight reforms that would make health insurance more competitive, more affordable, and more responsive to consumer demand.
... In The New York Times, Ramesh Ponnuru explained why mandatory universal coverage isn't likely to be the best way to solve our health-care problems and suggested, instead, that we break the link between employment and coverage and drop state coverage mandates.
There's more out there from smart policy analysts like Arnold Kling and Michael Cannon, as well as from business-minded thinkers like Regina Hertzlinger and David Goldhill.
No, not all of these essays and books come with thousand-page pieces of legislation attached (thanks goodness!), but every one of them offers innovative ideas for how to administer health-care and how to pay for it—ideas that, by and large, Obama has ignored.
These ideas would "bring down premiums" in the individual insurance market, which would help "cover the uninsured" since this is generally the only market available to the uninsured. Obama's plan would raise premiums on the uninsured, but address that problem by forcing them to buy it and apply for a federal subsidy.
These ideas would not add to the deficit, which is something you cannot say about Obama's plan, even though Obama feels comfortable repeating that falsehood.
For a president that is credited as a consensus builder, someone who listens to arguments on all sides before coming to a decision, he is remarkably resistant to free-market reform. It's as it he stuck his fingers in his ears and sang "la, la, la, I can't hear you" whenever anyone tried to tell him about a health reform plan that did not involve expanding the scope of government or making millions of Americans dependent upon the federal government.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Governor Rick Perry: On the Tea Party Movement, Senator Hutchison, and Debra Medina
Last Saturday I had the opportunity to ask the Governor a few questions. We discussed his support for the Tea Party movement and his 2010 primary challengers.
YouTube- Governor Rick Perry: On the Tea Party Movement, Senator Hutchison, and Debra Medina: ""
YouTube- Governor Rick Perry: On the Tea Party Movement, Senator Hutchison, and Debra Medina: ""
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
But Of Course ::: Hugo Chavez calls using Twitter “terrorism”
Even under 140 characters, the "pen" is still mightier than the sword.
And somewhere in D.C., on the taxpayer's dime, Mark Lloyd is taking notes.
For a man intent into taking Venezuelan into the Dark Ages, it was a remarkable admission that modernity can be a threat to Hugo Chavez and his fake revolution. As students used the Internet and its tools like Twitter as wel as other modern tools like SMS messaging to mobilize and communicate strategy instantly, Hugo Chavez made his second attack on the Internet in a single week,calling the rumors and use of this technology “terrorism”:
A week ago Chavez had said that his supporters had to watch out for the Internet and tonight he came on TV wearing a suit, rather than his usual red garb and began reading messages (which were too long to be from Twitter), calling it terrorism (right at the end, minute 3:50 or so)
I almost miss the beret. (rolls eyes)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Yes! ::: Immigration Judge: Homeschoolers' Basic Rights Violated
This poor family has been put through hell. This is a Nazi-era law Germany has been enforcing, and they should be rightfully embarrassed by this outcome.
Waiting for the bully media to cover this story. lol.
Immigration Judge Says Germany Violating Basic Human Rights
In a case with international ramifications, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the political asylum application of a German homeschooling family. The Romeikes are Christians from Bissinggen, Germany, who fled persecution in August 2008 to seek political asylum in the United States. The request was granted January 26 after a hearing was held in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 21.
“We can’t expect every country to follow our constitution,” said Judge Burman. “The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate.”
Burman added, “Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress. This family has a well-founded fear of persecution…therefore, they are eligible for asylum…and the court will grant asylum.”
In his ruling, Burman said that the scariest thing about this case was the motivation of the government. He noted it appeared that rather than being concerned about the welfare of the children, the government was trying to stamp out parallel societies—something the judge called “odd” and just plain “silly.” In his order the judge expressed concern that while Germany is a democratic country and is an ally, he noted that this particular policy of persecuting homeschoolers is “repellent to everything we believe as Americans.”
‘Embarrassing for Germany’
“This decision finally recognizes that German homeschoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, staff attorney and director of international relations for Home School Legal Defense Associaton. “It is embarrassing for Germany, since a Western nation should uphold basic human rights, which include allowing parents to raise and educate their own children. This judge understood the case perfectly, and he called Germany out. We hope this decision will cause Germany to stop persecuting homeschoolers,” he added.
The persecution of homeschoolers in Germany has been intensifying over the past several years. They are regularly fined thousands of dollars, threatened with imprisonment, or have the custody of their children taken away simply because they choose to home educate.
[snip]
Non-major media source: HSLDA | Immigration Judge: Homeschoolers' Basic Rights Violated
This Is Getting Ridiculous. Teleprompter Shot of the Day
I mean, really.
Teleprompter Shot of the Day [Rich Lowry]Here's Obama dropping in for a chat with his middle-class task force. And people made fun of Reagan because of his notecards!
One more time from the top...
LOLZ ::: Jon Stewart on Obama's Teleprompter
Thankfully TOTUS showing up in a classroom couldn't escape the minds at the Daily Show.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Obama Speaks to a Sixth-Grade Classroom | ||||
| ||||
Awesome ::: Rubio Up; Crist, Obama Down in Fla.
Crist needs a long vacation, and Florida and America need Marco Rubio.
If there wasn’t already enough evidence of the energy on the right, Quinnipiac has a Florida poll out today that captures both the conservative surge and ongoing anti-incumbent sentiment sweeping the country.
For the first time, Quinnipiac finds the former state House Speaker Marco Rubio leading the formerly very popular — and still well-known — Gov. Charlie Crist by a margin of 47% to 44%.
“Who would have thunk it? A former state lawmaker virtually unknown outside of his South Florida home whose challenge to an exceedingly popular sitting governor for a U.S. Senate nomination had many insiders scratching their heads,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “He enters the race 31 points behind and seven months later sneaks into the lead.”
“And, the horse race numbers are not a fluke,” Brown added. “Rubio also tops Crist on a number of other measurements from registered Republicans, who are the only folks who can vote in the primary. Rubio’s grassroots campaigning among Republican activists around the state clearly has paid off.”
And we suspect the poll is only telling part of the tale for Rubio because the energy is on his side.
The survey is also chock full of bad news for Democrats. President Obama is seen unfavorably in the Sunshine State these days by 49% of the people, versus 45% who still see a positive leader.
And in the Senate horse race, Rubio now tops Rep. Kendrick Meek 44% to 35%.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/01/rubio-up-crist-obama-down-in-f.html#ixzz0dkJfxckj
"Come And Take It" ::: Governor Perry and I Compare Boots
And his are cooler.
Thanks to Robbie Cooper for the camera work. My interview with the Governor will be posted later today.
Thanks to Robbie Cooper for the camera work. My interview with the Governor will be posted later today.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Giving Mark Lloyd More Ideas... : Six TV stations forced off air in Venezuela
A whole lot of crazy in this one.
Six TV stations forced off air in Venezuela - Yahoo! News UK
An opposition TV station in Venezuela along with five others were taken off the air early Sunday for violating rules issued by President Hugo Chavez's government, a station spokeswoman said.
The new rules require stations to air Chavez's speeches, among other mandates.
A spokeswoman for opposition channel RCTV, Gladys Zapiain, said all Venezuelan cable television providers dropped the station and the other channels from their line-ups.
"We have just been taken off the air," said Zapiain. "There was no prior notification."
Mario Seijas, president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Cable Television, told AFP that in addition to RCTV, the dropped channels include Ritmo Son, Momentum, America TV, American Network and TV Chile.
The providers argued that they had failed to comply with a government regulation issued in December, Zapiain said.
Under the measure, every television or radio station whose programming is at least 30 percent Venezuelan-made is considered a "national" media outlet.
As such, they are obligated to carry speeches by the president and other officials, as well as official government announcements.
Chavez critics view many of those speeches, which can last for hours, as government propaganda.
On Saturday, RCTV failed to comply with the regulation for a second time.
That day, Chavez addressed thousands of followers in western Caracas, demanding "absolute loyalty" and telling them he embodied the heart and soul of the Venezuelan people.
"I am not an individual, I am the people," Chavez told a crowd of supporters. "It's my duty to demand respect for the people.
The president asked for voters to renew the ruling party's control of both National Assembly houses in upcoming elections in order to be able to "continue building our new socialist state."
[snip]
Six TV stations forced off air in Venezuela - Yahoo! News UK
Oh FGS ::: Obama to reintroduce himself during State of the Union
Will it ever end?
Populist or professor? Contrite or uncompromising?
President Obama will have a chance Wednesday to reintroduce himself to the nation when he delivers his first official State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
The prime-time speech, which will be aired on all major TV networks and cable stations, could hardly come at a more critical time for a president grappling with double-digit unemployment, sinking poll numbers and the possible collapse of his top domestic policy priority, an overhaul of the nation's health-care system.
"As often as the president has spoken over the past year, critics on the right and left have largely defined him," says University of Notre Dame American studies professor Robert Schmuhl. "For the State of the Union, he needs to redefine himself, who he is politically and what his core principles and policies are."
Yeah... that's the problem right there... we haven't heard you talk enough.
Best Obama Photo Of The... Ever! ::: TelePrompter And Seal For Grade School Visit
I just giggle and giggle every time I look at this:
It's really ridiculous.
Now on to finding the best photoshops of it. It's begging to be mercilessly mocked.
Gateway Pundit
It's really ridiculous.
Now on to finding the best photoshops of it. It's begging to be mercilessly mocked.
Gateway Pundit
Andrew Breitbart: Time To Start Returning The Punches Of The Bully Media
I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Breitbart during the Perry Blogger Summit. Here he discusses the rage directed by the left and their complicit media at George W. Bush and Sarah Palin.
This interview took place at the Perry Blogger Summit in Austin, TX.
More videos to come.
YouTube - Andrew Breitbart: Time To Start Returning The Punches Of The Bully Media
This interview took place at the Perry Blogger Summit in Austin, TX.
More videos to come.
YouTube - Andrew Breitbart: Time To Start Returning The Punches Of The Bully Media
Breitbart's Challenge To New Media: Destroy Those Who Would Destroy You
Andrew Breitbart issues a challenge to bloggers and the alternative press to change the narrative in media and save western civilization in the process. I taped this during the Perry Blogger Summit.
YouTube - Breitbart's Challenge To New Media: Destroy Those Who Would Destroy You
YouTube - Breitbart's Challenge To New Media: Destroy Those Who Would Destroy You
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A Merciless Editorial ::: (John Edwards) Zero pity for sorry, sleazy ruin of a man
Not that he doesn't deserve it. If you don't ask for grace you're gonna get stuck with karma. And it's a b----.
By Charles Hurt
A normal, compassionate human exposed for the first time to the debauchery that remains of John Edwards' dishonest life and career could be forgiven for feeling a little sorry for the pathetic cad.
The world now knows just what a self-absorbed lunatic he is married to. He has dealt with terrible tragedy in his life. He juggles two families.
Opulently ensconced in one of the Two Americas he told us so much about, he built himself and one of his families a 28,000-square-foot mansion fit for a king, with a built-in squash court.
But he is exiled to the doghouse.
He is a failure as a father and a husband and even managed to disgrace the business of being a politician, which is pretty hard to do these days.
Today, he is completely isolated, wandering the planet with his work gloves and T-shirt, building houses for the poor as he searches for something.
Or someone, perhaps, who might cheer for him again and think he is as great and beautiful and charitable as he reveres himself to be.
Perhaps he should have held on to that little vanity mirror seen in that famous YouTube clip as he fussed for long minutes with his hair. No doubt he was the object of his first and greatest love affair.
Now his is a sad and lonely existence.
Reporters lurk outside the hotels he checks into. They take pictures of him through lacy curtains and chase him into the bathroom, where he locks the door -- all alone. They prowl around and rummage through his garbage in search of more dirt on him.
But here is why a normal, compassionate human being would be wrong to pity the guy.
One of the most sordid and shocking little details from the whole sordid and shocking saga was Edwards' effort to deny that a little girl belonged to him -- a little girl he had conceived shortly after announcing his wife had incurable cancer.
According to Andrew Young, the former staffer who has penned an upcoming book about the whole sordid affair, Edwards urged him to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do his own DNA test to determine whether the child was really his.
And once it became clear the child was his, he offered a fix only the sleaziest of lawyers could think of.
"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," he said, according to this disillusioned loyalist.
After all, who minds a little perjury? It is not like you were not warned.
This is a man who made millions as a legendary personal-injury lawyer, destroying honest careers and bankrupting good doctors before turning to politics.
When the shoe that everybody knew was coming finally dropped yesterday, Edwards was hiding again.
In his place, he dispatched one of his longest-serving flunkies to make his apologies on camera.
The timing, also, is curious, coming tightly on the heels of Democratic annihilation in Massachusetts and the arrival here of Scott Brown, the next rising heartthrob politician.
When Edwards finally did surface yesterday, he was in earthquake-shattered Haiti. In his work gloves and T-shirt, still searching.
And he proved once again that he still has a future as a personal-injury lawyer, for there is no tragedy or misfortune that Edwards will not exploit for his own personal advantage.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Mischa "Matron" Barton Channels Sophia Loren
Am I too hard on this poor girl?
White House Wants "Timely Intelligence" and "Early Warning" To Prevent Future... Scott Browns!
Great priorities in "our" White House.
This article is a gift that keeps on giving. New York Times, of course:
— President Obama is reconstituting the team that helped him win the White House to counter Republican challenges in the midterm elections and recalibrate after political setbacks that have narrowed his legislative ambitions.
Mr. Obama has asked his former campaign manager, David Plouffe, to oversee House, Senate and governor’s races to stave off a hemorrhage of seats in the fall. The president ordered a review of the Democratic political operation — from the White House to party committees — after last week’s Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, aides said.
In addition to Mr. Plouffe, who will primarily work from the Democratic National Committee in consultation with the White House, several top operatives from the Obama campaign will be dispatched across the country to advise major races as part of the president’s attempt to take greater control over the midterm elections, aides said.
“We are turning the corner to a much more political season,” said David Axelrod, a senior adviser, who confirmed Mr. Plouffe’s role. “We are going to evaluate what we need to do to get timely intelligence and early warnings so we don’t face situations like we did in Massachusetts.”
It goes on... : Obama Moves to Centralize Control Over Party Strategy - NYTimes.com
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