Announcements at p. 4 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

Rosh Hashanah – Jewish Year 5771: sunset, September 8, 2010 – nightfall September 10, 2010. The first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim (“Days of Awe”), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. NO SIGNS PLEASE!

Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

Today, September 8^th: Cap & Trade Auction/Protest!

RGGI: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

“It looks like the climate bill debate has already been decided by Washington and voters didn’t even have a chance to say “NO!” A staggering $65 billion dollars has been transferred from the private sector to fund the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI.) RGGI is government created entity that is choking companies in the northeast with huge tax increases in the name of the environment. Our tax dollars are funding this secret climate initiative. Soon RGGI will expand to every state and stick you with astronomical energy prices.” From AmeriPAC…

Protest: https://secure.conservativedonations.com/ameripac_rggi/?a=4555

“Do you support the repeal of New Jersey’s RGGI ‘Cap & Trade’ program? Then join us on Wednesday, September 8 in New York City where we will hold a rally at the RGGI offices in lower Manhattan!

“‘Cap & Trade’ has been stymied at the federal level but the RGGI scheme has been up and running for two years. This ‘Cap & Trade’ program has already cost ratepayers across ten states over $660 MILLION. RGGI has cost ratepayers in New Jersey ratepayers over $65 MILLION.

This ‘Cap & Trade’ energy tax will cost our state jobs and continue to cause energy prices to skyrocket.

Not only that, but the RGGI ‘Cap & Trade’ scheme operates in secret – a clandestine operation where you and I are told we have no right to know who is trading. Nor do we know how much the RGGI bureaucrats are making on the backs of taxpayers.”

Buses & more at http://americansforprosperity.org/083110-join-us-cap-trade-protest 

Janet Adamy, WSJ: Health Insurers Plan Hikes

“Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats’ efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections.

“Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators.

“These and other insurers say Congress’s landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a brutal fight, is causing them to pass on more costs to consumers than Democrats predicted.”

WSJ/SB10001424052748703720004575478200948908976.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Our Preacher…

Steve Sommers, WLW 700AM, mentioned that Baptists are really into food and asked if the Florida group plan to cook hotdogs? Meanwhile, Jones is on schedule…

“Jones gained some local notoriety last year when he posted signs in front of his church declaring “Islam is of the Devil.” But his Quran-burning idea attracted wider attention. It drew rebukes from Muslim nations and at home as an emotional debate was taking shape over the proposed Islamic center near the ground zero site of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.

“His actions most likely would be protected by the First Amendment’s right to free speech.”

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100908/D9I3N9KG0.html

Robert Spencer: “I oppose the Qur’an-burning. I don’t like the burning of books. I’d rather that the contents of the Qur’an, and the ways that jihadists use those contents to justify violence, be known. However, these people are free to do what they want to do. Petraeus would do better to tell the Afghans that in America we have freedom of speech and expression, and that we put up with speech and expression that we dislike without trying to kill the speaker. He would do better to tell them that their likely murderous rage over this event is an outrageous overreaction, and that any bloodshed over this would be a heinous crime, far dwarfing any crime they think the people in Florida are committing.”

Jihadwatch.org/2010/09/eisenhower-der-fuhrers-face-song-could-endanger-troops—-no-wait.html

Hartford City Council to Open with Muslim Prayers: “The Council announced Tuesday that it has invited local imams to perform Islamic invocations at the beginning of the Council meetings in September.

“An e-mail from the Common Council called it ‘an act of solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.’

The email even referenced the ongoing issue in New York. ‘One of the goals of the Council is to give a voice to the many diverse peoples of the City, which is especially important given the recent anti-Islam events throughout the country.’

NBCconnecticut.com/news/local-beat/Council-Meetings-to-Begin-with-Muslim-Prayers-102387499.html

Mike Bloomberg Defends Pastor’s Right

“”In a strange way I’m here to defend his right to do that. I happen to think that it is distasteful. I don’t think he would like it if somebody burnt a book that in his religion he thinks is holy,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a news conference updating the public on the progress of rebuilding at the World Trade Center site.

“But the First Amendment protects everybody,” Mr. Bloomberg said, “and you can’t say that we’re going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement.”

WSJ.com/ SB10001424052748704358904575478241873665072.html

Germany Honors Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard

“Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who in 2005 portrayed the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb in his turban, is to receive the M100 Media Prize in Germany on Wednesday, organisers said.

“The prize is to be awarded for Westergaard’s ‘unbending engagement for freedom of the press and freedom of opinion, and for his courage to defend these democratic values despite threats of death and violence,’ the prize committee said.

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony, held in the Sanssouci palace in Potsdam and attended by editors and publishers from Europe’s top media companies.”

sify.com/news/controversial-cartoonist-to-receive-german-prize-news-international-kjhqadeijjd.html  

Andy McCarthy: Begin to Say “No”

“It should never have gotten this far. Sponsors of the Ground Zero mosque neither own the property in question nor possess the means to build and operate the palatial Islamic center they envision. The more light that shines on their record of murky real-estate dealings and the dubious circumstances of their limited stake in the Ground Zero property, the more questions arise. In a more sensible world, those questions would get answered before we plunged into a rancorous public debate. That hasn’t happened, though. In spite of the implacable determination of the mayor (and the attorney general who would be governor) to look the other way, the issue has galvanized the public. What has long bubbled beneath the surface did not need much more heat to boil over.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/245872/where-we-begin-say-no-andrew-c-mccarthy

Chris Freind: “GZ Mosque a Red Herring – Nine Years Later, We’re No Safer”

I’ve argued that sharia is incompatible with our constitution and that individuals have a choice to adhere to one or to the other. This must not be a situation where the timid can take some of each. Further, there are change points in the history of a people…we now face a number of them and the GZ Mosque may be one. Freind lists some others …and expects some hate mail!

“Utilizing luck as your foremost national security tool probably isn’t the best idea we’ve had. At some point, Lady Luck will make an exit.

“Do we have a secure border? Not even close. Incomprehensibly, nine years after the horrific attacks, the border remains wide open, beckoning terrorists to cross not just with logistical expertise, but with chemical, biological and yes, nuclear weapons.

“When will we learn? After Phoenix — or Philadelphia — becomes uninhabitable for the next 50 years? A catastrophe along those lines is a virtual certainty, because we’re more worried about building a mosque than a border wall.

“Is our intelligence community efficient? Wishful thinking. We took a system that was dysfunctional — but fixable — and turned it into a massively inept bureaucratic nightmare called the Department of Homeland Security. Intelligence information isn’t shared, budget battles and turf wars are more prevalent than ever, and the core mission of the alphabet-soup agencies is once again lost.

“Do certain states still issue drivers licenses to known illegals — including potential terrorists — thereby making their movements and purchases in America infinitely easier? You betcha.

“Have we, as a nation, condemned judges and other institutions that have embraced sharia law in this country? No, because that would offend, and just wouldn’t be politically correct.

PhillyMag.com/the_philly_post/2010/09/07/why-are-we-arguing-about-the-ground-zero-mosque/

Islam in Fresno…

Thanks Ted,

“Is this factual?  I don’t know. Is it possible?  Absolutely!

“I received this from my ex-homicide partner who is still active in law enforcement circles in the Fresno area.
“Excuse the language, but don’t excuse the facts. Don’t give up your guns, and buy necessary ammunition if you can find it. Be cautious and alert. Be ready if, God forbid, we need to protect our families and loved ones.
“If you weren’t at Rotary Friday, you missed the only decent speaker we’ve had in more than a year. LTC John Cotter is the 144th Fighter Wing’s antiterrorism officer. John had a two-part presentation. First part was describing his job as the unit’s antiterrorism officer. Pretty standard stuff.
“The second part was information that will curl your hair.

A Part-time air guardsman works as a checker at local Von’s. Two women in full burkas buy every pre-paid cellphone in the store. Clerk/airman gets to thinking about it. Goes to Cotter and reports incident. Cotter asks store for surveillance video. It’s scary enough that he contacts Fresno FBI.
“FBI investigates and determines these women have been doing this all over the Valley. Cell phones shipped through Canada to Iraq/Afghanistan where they become triggers for roadside bombs.
“The Shell station at Peach and Shaw. Every time a local GI goes there in fatigues they are asked specific questions. What is your unit? When are you deploying? How many aircraft are you taking?
“The F-16s out of Fresno fly CAP for west coast. As such they are the first line of defense so they have the US ’s most sophisticated air-to-air missiles. Foreign governments would like to get their hands on those missiles or at least learn how to build them. Also how many we have, etc. Two spy groups are working on it, one based at Fashion Fair Mall (the F-16s take-off pattern) and one based at Sierra Vista Mall (the F-16s landing pattern).
“Cotter said the ragheads (But we don’t profile.) are always probing the base. Two dorks in a pickup show up at the front gate wanting to deliver a package marked Air National Guard, Fresno . No postage, no UPS, no FedEx, no DHL, no nothing. Just a probe.
“I asked Cotter why we haven’t seen anything about this in The Bee, on KMJ, on local TV news. He said they’re not interested. Since Friday I’ve learned of two other things.

My brother-in-law Frank, (management at Avaya) had a Muslim tech who took a leave-of-absence for 6 weeks in Afghanistan . After the 6 weeks were up he called from New York requesting an extension. Frank (who does profile) said, you’re fired, and called the Fresno FBI who were very interested. Don’t know the outcome.
“A Muslim who owns a liquor store in my former hometown of Kingsburg was constantly bugging customers to buy guns for him. Finally one of the guys I grew up with called the FBI.
“We are a country at war and the enemy is among us. I don’t care what Janet Napolitano says, it’s a fight to the death and we should be prepared as possible. Brother-in-law Frank has a theory and I think it may be closer to the truth than Homeland Security wants to admit. There are a certain number (probably a large number) of Muslims among us who are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as they can, sort of a Fort Hood on steroids. I know I’m getting prepared to shoot back.
“Two items of interest: Sheriff Margaret Mims wants to grant concealed carry permits to all who are qualified. Columnist Jim Boren, among the most bleeding of the bleeding heart liberals, says it’s time for Fresno residents to arm themselves. LOAD up, you can bet this is happening in places other than Fresno David Rayburn I was asked to send this to everyone in my address book. Some of those I’m sending it to WILL NOT! To those I say, “Get you head out of the sand and look around with an open mind or before you know it we will no longer be living in the land of the free and the brave!”

Dems Run Against Obama/Pelosi

“When Alabama Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright recently joked that Speaker of the House ‘might get sick and die’ – preventing her from another tenure as Speaker – it was only the most outlandish instance of politically vulnerable Democrats suddenly expressing their opposition to their Party’s leadership in Washington.

“Here are some of the more notable examples.”

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/08/the-democrats-who-are-running-from-obama-and-pelosi/

School Voucher Breakout

“Last month, and to widespread surprise, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato came out in support of school vouchers for underprivileged kids. Mr. Onorato said that education “grants”—he avoided the term vouchers—”would give low-income families in academically distressed communities direct choices about which schools their children should attend.”

“Mr. Onorato’s Republican opponent, state Attorney General Tom Corbett, is also a strong backer of education choice, which means that come November Pennsylvania voters will get to choose between two candidates who are on record in support of a statewide school voucher program….

“The Obama Administration, which is phasing out a popular and successful school voucher program in Washington, D.C., at the insistence of teachers unions, refuses to acknowledge that vouchers can play a role in reforming K-12 education. But states and cities are the real engines of reform, and the Pennsylvania developments are another sign that the school choice movement is alive and well.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455782883586338.html

Hugh Hewitt: NEA Fissions

“Divides exist and are growing between the interests of retired teachers and working teachers, between older teachers and young teachers, and between classroom teachers and everyone else in the NEA’s 3.2 million number.

“The NEA, like all public employee unions, approaches every problem as one of insufficient funding, and traditionally the demand for a larger slice of the public pie has been enough to keep various factions together in whatever political battle looms.

“That may end in November.”

WashingtonExaminer /Interests-of-younger_-older-teachers-clash-in-November

Bob Guzzardi: Corbett vs Onorato on Corporate Taxes

Tom Corbett will reduce the Corporate Net Income Tax from 9.9% to 6.9%.  This is a real job creator, in addition to his opposition to imposing a severance tax on Marcellus Shale, the largest job creator in Pennsylvania.

Dan Onorato said: “Ed Rendell has been [my] role model!”

That would be the same Fiscal-Madman Ed Rendell, who spent/spent/spent to benefit favored constituencies—which, certainly, did not include The Forgotten Taxpayer—to build his power base.

Lowering taxes leaves more money in the productive private-sector, rather in the bureaucratic government sector; the result is more growth, more jobs, more goods produced and services provided…by real people working, saving and investing.

Speaking to a handful of the 220 employees at a Palmyra-based company, Corbett said his economic strategy, if elected, would include reducing or phasing-out several business taxes, including reducing the state’s corporate net income tax from 9.9 percent to 6.9 percent.

Announcements at p. 6 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“The liberation of the human mind has been best furthered by…fellows who throw dead cats in sanctuaries.” H. L. Mencken

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. NO SIGNS PLEASE!

Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

Steve Lonegan: Tomorrow, September 8^th: Cap & Trade Auction/Protest!

“Do you support the repeal of New Jersey’s RGGI ‘Cap & Trade’ program? Then join us on Wednesday, September 8 in New York City where we will hold a rally at the RGGI offices in lower Manhattan!

“‘Cap & Trade’ has been stymied at the federal level but the RGGI scheme has been up and running for two years. This ‘Cap & Trade’ program has already cost ratepayers across ten states over $660 MILLION. RGGI has cost ratepayers in New Jersey ratepayers over $65 MILLION.

This ‘Cap & Trade’ energy tax will cost our state jobs and continue to cause energy prices to skyrocket.

Not only that, but the RGGI ‘Cap & Trade’ scheme operates in secret – a clandestine operation where you and I are told we have no right to know who is trading. Nor do we know how much the RGGI bureaucrats are making on the backs of taxpayers.”

Buses & more at http://americansforprosperity.org/083110-join-us-cap-trade-protest  

Fred Barnes: Our Recovery Summer that Wasn’t

“Now that Recovery Summer has brought slower growth and meager hiring, it’s clear who had a better sense of the country’s economic condition. It wasn’t cheery officials in Washington whose prediction of a summertime boom was based on economic numbers from the spring. It was folks far from Washington and immersed in the real economy who saw economic stagnation ahead and were adjusting their business decisions accordingly.”

WSJ.com/article/SB10001424052748704206804575467900196619676.html?KEYWORDS=Fred+Barnes

Missing Female Voices

Sakineh is said scheduled for more beating, the Vatican diddles, American women are silent. Are they too liberal to disrupt Sock Puppet’s dealings with Iran? Or just stoned? Or rehearsing for their burqas?

Philadelphia Vote Fraud

Thanks Ted,

“The dead voters may be forced back into their graves. The biggest scandal emerging from the infamous New Black Panther voter- intimidation case didn’t even involve the Black Panthers.

“Instead, it came when whistleblowing attorney J. Christian Adams told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that top Justice Department official Julie Fernandes had openly refused to enforce laws that require states to remove ineligible names – dead people, felons, people who have moved – from voter rolls.   ‘We have no interest in enforcing this provision of the law,’ Ms. Fernandes reportedly told a roomful of employees of the department‘s Voting Section in November.

‘It has nothing to do with increasing turnout, and we are just not going to do it.’

WashingtonTimes.com/news/2010/sep/3/scandal-at-justice-enabling-vote-fraud/

GE/Erie Gets $500,000 of Your Dollars for Windmills

Thanks CAF,

“The world’s second largest company will be getting Pennsylvania taxpayers to kick in $500,000 to help fund an alternative energy project.

“General Electric (GE) will get the taxpayer money to help pay for a crane at its Erie facility to aid in its efforts to become a major player in the development of wind propelled drive trains for windmill energy.

“I’ve worked closely with General Electric on acquiring this grant, which will help fund costs for a higher capacity crane at the Erie area facility,” state Rep. Pat Harkins (D-Erie) said. “The facility allows for the test and development of wind turbine drive trains, in order to meet the market need for larger drive trains.”

“The grant was awarded by the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA).

PAIndependent/pa-taxpayers-give-general-electric-half-a-million-dollars#18;s-fdr

Robert Spencer: Pakistani Minister – “Obama for Caliph”

“The restoration of the caliphate is foremost on the agenda of the global mujahedin because, according to Islamic law, the caliph alone can declare offensive jihad against infidel nations–which is why Osama bin Laden and other jihad theorists cast all the present actions of Islamic jihadists as defensive.

“Islamic supremacists also see the abolition of the caliphate as the loss of the unity of the umma, the Islamic community worldwide; they see a divided Islamic umma as a weakened one, subject to buffeting and humiliation from colonialist and neo-colonialist powers.

“And so Durrani, a member of Pakistan’s governing People’s Party, said: “The time is approaching fast. Barack Hussein Obama must act now. This is a golden opportunity, Muslims badly need it.’”

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/spencer-pakistani-government-minister-obama-for-caliph.html

Robert Samuelson: “Why School Reform Fails”

George Will said in Washington at AfP that 90% of school excellence is associated with excellence of families. We can discuss the contributors to “excellent families.” Charles Murray insists that 70% of new enrollees in college are incapable of doing the work. Murray recommends trade schools and – as is done for accounting – national certification tests. (Murray, Charles (2008) Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America’s Schools Back to Reality. NY: Crown.)

“As 56 million children return to the nation’s 133,000 elementary and secondary schools, the promise of “reform” is again in the air. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced $4 billion in ‘race to the top’ grants to states whose proposals demonstrate, according to Duncan, ‘a bold commitment to education reform’ and ‘creativity and innovation (that are) breathtaking.’ What they really show is that few subjects inspire more intellectual dishonesty and political puffery than “school reform.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/06/why_school_reform_fails_107033.html

See also Michael Barone: “The Higher Education Bubble” RealClearPolitics.com/articles/2010/09/06/the_higher_education_bubble_ready_to_burst_107029.html

Soros Assaults TEA

“Soros and the foundation left have launched a website designed to go after the growing Tea Party movement. Teapartytracker.org will post video interviews and blog entries gathered by folks on the false left who never grow weary of demonstrating their outrage over the very idea of a grassroots political effort overthrowing establishment Democrats and Republicans in the district of corporate criminals.

“Teapartytracker.org will be sponsored by the NAACP, Think Progress, New Left Media and Media Matters for America. Think Progress is a George Soros operation connected to John Podesta’s Center for American Progress.”

http://www.infowars.com/globalist-soros-launches-frontal-assault-against-tea-party/

Thomas Sowell: “Things Go Better When Politicians Do Nothing”

“When people learn that you are an economist, they often want you to predict which way the economy is going. There seem to be more than the usual number of calls for such predictions lately. But an economist should be more aware than others how hazardous such predictions can be.

One reason is that what happens in the economy is affected by what politicians do in Washington — and who can predict what politicians will do?

However, let me go out on a limb and try to predict what politicians will not do.

WashingtonExaminer.com/opinion/columns/Things-go-better-when-politicians-do-nothing

Thomas Sowell: “Political Fables”

“No President of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress.

Democrats controlled both houses of Congress before Barack Obama became president. The deficit he inherited was created by the Congressional Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders.”

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/09/07/political_fables

James Sherk, Heritage: The New Face of Unions

“Unions have been a familiar part of American working life for more than 70 years. Less familiar is the state of the union movement today: More union members now work for the government than for private employers. The above-market salaries and benefits that government employees receive are paid for by taxpayers. So, the union movement that began as a campaign to improve working conditions and salaries for workers in the private sector, now pushes for ever-higher taxes to increase the generous compensation that government employees enjoy. Heritage Foundation labor policy expert James Sherk details the changes in the union movement, and explains how Congress can react to this new reality.”

Heritage.org/2010/09/The-New-Face-of-the-Union-Movement-Government-Employees

Fired Inspector General, Gerald Walpin, Wants a New Judge

Thanks Ted,

“Fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin is asking that his lawsuit challenging his abrupt and apparently illegal dismissal by the Obama administration be reinstated – and he wants a new judge assigned to the case.

“A Washington Times editorial published Sept. 1 suggests that District Judge Richard W. Roberts has not presided over Walpin’s case with professional impartiality.”

www.wnd.com/index/php?fa=PAGE.view*pageID=199061

Bob Guzzardi: Individual Freedom

Reagan and Obama  Individual Freedom  and Voluntary Community v. State  Coerced Collectivism  Video

Two contrasting views of America and our role in the world and in history

Defining the Differences  A Clear Choice – November is Coming

Bob Guzzardi: Corbett’s Assets

No new taxes, opposes Severance Tax on Marcellus shale projects, supports Opportunity Scholarships for school choice, put Perzel – who may now oppose him in Philadelphia – in handcuffs, supports challenges to ObamaCare,  opposes federal meddling in Arizona.

Help Wanted: VF Prayer Rally

“Sue Fisher who runs the Inspiration and Prayer Rally in now employed which means she cannot hold or attend the rally in October or November.  The VFP’s would like to put the word out for anyone who would like to conduct the inspiration and prayer rally October 6^th & November 3^rd.  Please contact Susan Fisher at ValleyForgePatriot@hotmail.com or leave a message at 610-286-7507.  She will be able to answer your questions on conducting the meeting.  DianeCanney@verizon.net  

Help Wanted: TEA Party Nation

“We have openings for experienced sales people.  If you have prior sales experience, preferably internet or media sales, want to help our cause and get paid a commission in the process, we are looking for you.

If you are interested, email your resume to advertising@teapartynation.com

“Like a Dog…”

Obama is hurt, sensing that we talk about him as if he’s a dog. Seth Liebsohn thinks that’s insensitive to dogs…Another Starbucks customer, a beefy black guy said that I disliked Obama because he’s black. Cognitive challenge for some –people can be black or half black and really incompetent. Second challenge: Some white people, just like black people, notice such things and, with no sense of guilt, want to change them …

Announcements at p. 6 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

September 6, 1781: British troops, led by Benedict Arnold, burned New London, Connecticut.

Bennett & Cribb.

PA Senate Race: “Ambivalence”

My understanding is that Pat also dislikes earmarks…

“On paper, Sestak, 58, and Toomey, a decade younger, are perfectly primed for what ought to be a great debate. Both well-educated and articulate, they have built their careers as idea merchants. Sestak is a graduate of the Naval Academy and served as commander of the George Washington aircraft carrier battle group and later as director of defense policy on President Clinton’s National Security Council. He retired as a rear admiral and, in 2006, ousted a Republican incumbent to become the highest-ranking veteran in Congress.

“Toomey is a Harvard graduate who became a currency trader on Wall Street, won an open Democratic district in the Lehigh Valley in 1998 and served three terms in the House before stepping down in 2004 to fulfill his term-limits pledge. That year, he challenged Specter from the right and lost by less than 2 percent of the votes in the Republican primary. He then became the head of the Club for Growth, a free-market advocacy group that backs conservative candidates.

“Sestak and Toomey are on opposite sides on most big issues. Sestak campaigned against the war in Iraq, supported Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, voted with President Obama on the stimulus bill, health care and the cap-and-trade energy bill, and has a 100 percent rating from the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America.

“Toomey argues for extending all the Bush tax cuts, opposes the three main Obama initiatives, is pro-life and against gay marriage and wants to eliminate the estate tax and reduce several business levies. He has a lifetime approval rating of 97 percent from the American Conservative Union.

“But neither man appears comfortable betting his political future entirely on ideology. While happy to point to examples of the opponent’s “rigid ideology,” they also like to fuzz their own records.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/05/no_ambivalence_in_this_race_107022.html

Rubio’s Father Died: Campaign Suspended

“Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio temporarily suspended his campaign Sunday after the death of his father at Baptist Hospital in Miami.

“Mario Rubio, 83, suffered from emphysema and lung cancer.

“On the campaign trail, Rubio frequently spoke of the sacrifices made by his Cuban immigrant parents. His father’s mother died when he was nine years old, and he went to work the day after her funeral. He spent most of his life as a bartender but also worked as a street vendor, security guard, apartment building manager and crossing guard.

“He was by far the most unselfish person I have ever known, always focused on others, and never on his own well being,”

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/05/republican-senate-candidate-marco-rubios-father-dies/

Netanyahu Caves?

“After decades of conflicts and wars, it appears that we are finally on the cusp of seeing peace agreed upon between Israel and Palestine. After both Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, separately met with President Barack Obama during the during, it was agreed that both leaders would sit down together to discuss peace prospects between the nations.

See Glick: http://carolineglick.com/

Also “The Israeli Left knows no matter how forcefully its platforms are rejected by public, the US government will embrace its members.”

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=186537

‘The status quo is intolerable; Hamas is worse”

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/245652/what-sort-palestinian-state-editors

Jeff Jacoby: “Victims on the road to ‘peace’”

“TALIA AND Yitzhak Ames met as students at Moscow University. They got married in 1985, and had two children by the time they emigrated to Israel in 1991. Four more children followed in the next 19 years, and Talia was nine months’ pregnant with their seventh when she and Yitzhak were murdered by Palestinian terrorists last week.

“The killers ambushed them as they were driving home Tuesday night, heading south on Highway 60 toward Beit Haggai in the Hebron Hills. With Talia and Yitzhak in the car when the killers opened fire were two other residents of Beit Haggai: Avishai Schindler, a newly married yeshiva student, and Kochava Even-Haim, a nursery school teacher and the mother of an 8-year-old daughter. All of the victims were shot repeatedly at close range, and the car was riddled with dozens of bullets.

“Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter extols the murder of Jews, promptly claimed responsibility for the massacre…”

Boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/09/05/victims_on_the_road_to_peace/

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani

“Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, has also been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photo published of her without a headscarf, according to her son.

In an interview published on the website of the French magazine La Regle du Jeu and the blog Dentelles et Tchador, Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s son Sajjad said they learned of the new punishment from released inmates.

“He said that a prison judge confirmed that she was to be lashed for spreading ‘corruption and indecency’ by the publication of a photograph of her without a headscarf that appeared in a British newspaper.”

Breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.260c2246a5c77075ff7ab46b021e9239.371&show_article=1

 “The Vatican is said to be considering issuing an appeal through diplomatic channels to Iran to commute the death sentence by stoning of an Iranian woman charged with adultery.”

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1410335&SM=1

Indonesian Muslims Protest Plans to Burn Quran

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thousands of Indonesian Muslims are rallying outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to denounce a Florida church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., said it will burn the Islamic holy book on the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks. Local officials have denied a permit for the bonfire on the church’s grounds. But the center, which made headlines last year by distributing T-shirts that said “Islam is of the Devil,” insists it will go ahead with the plan.

WSJsj.com/ SB10001424052748704282504575471870674163414.html

Ground Zero: Muslim PR

This man insists that our constitution supports sharia…

“Let us get one thing straight: Barring difficulties in fund-raising, the Park51 project, the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” will be built. Despite the fact that roughly 70% of the American people oppose it, U.S. laws ensure that not even the project’s most bitter foes will be able to stop it.

That’s the reason why the question of whether America is “Islamophobic” – now bandied about so casually, as though opposition to the mosque has revealed a nasty strain in the American psyche, akin to the terrible racism or anti-Semitism that once ran wild – is so deeply offensive.”

NYDailyNews /2010/09/05/2010-09-05_muslims_have_access_to_the_america.html

Pastor Bill Keller’ Match

The vote at 11:29 Sunday morning is 79% in his favor….

A Muslim-bashing evangelical preacher is bringing his inflammatory brand of worship to Ground Zero – and even the anti-mosque crowd doesn’t want him.

Florida pastor Bill Keller plans to preside over his first sermon near the former World Trade Center site on Sunday as a direct challenge to Park51, the controversial mosque and community center planned for nearby.

And he’ll keep holding services at the Marriott hotel across from Ground Zero until he finds rental space for a 9/11 Christian Center.

“The center is there to bring hope and to help people,” Keller said Thursday. “It’s not designed to be a place where we preach against Islam, although we will preach against Islam and Mormonism and any other false religion.”

Andy Sullivan, a leader in the movement to move Park51, said Keller’s 9/11 Christian Center is “just what we do not need” near Ground Zero.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/02/2010-09-02_muslimbashing_televangelist_bill_keller_to_bring_inflammatory_brand_of_worship_t.html 

James Taranto: Times to City – “Drop Dead”

“The Times commissioned a poll of New York City residents, which found that their views on the mosque project are very similar to those of Americans more broadly. As the paper reports in a news story today:

“The center’s developers, and its defenders, have sought to portray opponents as a small but vocal group.

“The poll, however, reveals a more complicated portrait of the opposition in New York: 67 percent said that while Muslims had a right to construct the center near ground zero, they should find a different site.

“Most strikingly, 38 percent of those who expressed support for the plan to build it in Lower Manhattan said later in a follow-up question that they would prefer it be moved farther away [from Ground Zero], suggesting that even those who defend the plan question the wisdom of the location.

“The Times editorial is a classic of muddled thinking and self-righteous attitudinizing:

“As the site of America’s bloodiest terrorist attack, New York had a great chance to lead by example. Too bad other places are ahead of us. Muslims hold daily prayer services in a chapel in the Pentagon, a place also hallowed by 9/11 dead. The country often has had the wisdom to choose graciousness and reconciliation over triumphalism, as is plain from the many monuments to Confederate soldiers in northern states, including the battlefield at Gettysburg.

“We’re not sure we agree with the Times that the proposed mosque is akin to a monument honoring enemy soldiers. But if we accept the analogy for the sake of argument, shouldn’t postbellum reconciliation at least wait until the war is over?”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703946504575469603863768286.html#printMode

MidEast Static about GZ Mosque

“The ground zero mosque, which is stirring such a sandstorm in New York City, isn’t so popular in certain precincts of the Middle East, either. Some Muslims there think President Obama and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York are nuts. Impotent and irresolute, too.

“Some of the believers in Arabia say the mosque is a conspiracy hatched by the Jews…

“The skepticism and hostility in Arabia to building the ground zero mosque — and until recently the proposed mosque was bigger news in the Middle East than in Minneapolis or Memphis — contrasts sharply with the enthusiasm of Muslims for the project in America. What do Muslims in Arabia know that Muslims in America don’t?

“Sounds like a lot.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/23/pruden-the-zionist-plot-to-build-a-mosque/

George Will: Green Godzillas

Environmentalism began as Bambi doing battle with Godzillas, such as the Army Corps of Engineers. Then, says (Walter Russell) Mead, environmentalism became Godzilla, an advocate of ‘a big and simple fix for all that ails us: a global carbon cap. One big problem, one big fix.’

“Mead continues:

“‘Never mind that the leading green political strategy (to stop global warming by a treaty that gains unanimous consent among 190-plus countries and is then ratified by 67 votes in a Senate that rejected Kyoto 95 to 0) is and always has been so cluelessly unrealistic as to be clinically insane. The experts decree and we rubes are not to think but to honor and obey.’

“The essence of progressivism, of which environmentalism has become an appendage, is the faith that all will be well once we have concentrated enough power in Washington and have concentrated enough Washington power in the executive branch and have concentrated enough “experts” in that branch. Hence the Environmental Protection Agency proposes to do what the elected representatives of the rubes refuse to do in limiting greenhouse gases.”

http://www.washingtonpost.co/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090304151.html

More by Walter Russell Mead, “The Greening of Godzilla,” posted August 28^th at http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/

Attn. Michelle: Jesse Jackson’s SUV Stripped

“Following the embarrassing news that Mayor Dave Bing’s GMC Yukon was hijacked by criminals this week, Detroit’s Channel 7 reports that the Reverend’s Caddy Escalade SUV was stolen and stripped of its wheels while he was in town last weekend with the UAW’s militant President Bob King leading the ‘Jobs, Justice, and Peace’ march promoting government-funded green jobs.

“Read that again: Jackson’s Caddy SUV was stripped while he was in town promoting green jobs.

“Add Jesse to the Al Gore-Tom Friedman-Barack Obama School of Environmental Hypocrisy. While preaching to Americans that they need to cram their families into hybrid Priuses to go shopping for compact fluorescent light bulbs to save the planet, they themselves continue to live large.”

DetNews /20100903/ Payne–The-irony-of-Jesse-Jackson-s-stripped-SUV

Pawlenty: Feds Are Like a Drug Dealer

People are catching on. Tape: http://www.breitbart.tv/gov-pawlenty-federal-govt-like-drug-dealer/

Claudia Rosett: Internationalism Run Amok

“America was founded as a country where no citizen would ever have to submit to the will of a king, or any other brand of despot. But hey, that’s yesterday’s news. President Barack Obama‘s administration is now submitting its own special selection of domestic policies and laws for review by the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose 47 members include such tyrannies as Saudi Arabia, Libya, Cuba and China.”

Forbes /2010/09/03/barack-obama-united-nations-human-rights-opinions

Ryan Ellis: The Largest Tax Hikes in History

“In just 120 days, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.  They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:

“First Wave…”

http://www.atr.org/days-thebr-largest-tax-hikes-history-a5370#
Oval Rug: The Wrong History

“President Obama’s new presidential rug seemed beyond reproach, with quotations from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. woven along its curved edge.

“‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ According media reports, this quote keeping Obama company on his wheat-colored carpet is from King.

Except it’s not a King quote. The words belong to a long-gone Bostonian champion of social progress.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090305100.html

Dems Plan Triage

Daisy chain suicide?

“As Democrats brace for a November wave that threatens their control of the House, party leaders are preparing a brutal triage of their own members in hopes of saving enough seats to keep a slim grip on the majority.

“In the next two weeks, Democratic leaders will review new polls and other data that show whether vulnerable incumbents have a path to victory. If not, the party is poised to redirect money to concentrate on trying to protect up to two dozen lawmakers who appear to be in the strongest position to fend off their challengers.”

http://www.insidebayarea.com/california/ci_15995785

Hinderaker: Obama’s DOJ Fights Arizona

“Barack Obama and Eric Holder are presiding over a dangerously politicized Department of Justice. Most people don’t follow the news closely enough to understand what Obama and Holder have done to the Department, but by rights this should be a major campaign issue. Today Byron York puts the spotlight on the feds’ war against the State of Arizona. The Obama administration has opened several fronts in that war: a lawsuit that tries to force Arizona to stop enforcing the immigration laws; another case against the Maricopa Community College system that alleges the system illegally requires job seekers to produce a green card; and a third lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office which accuses that office of civil rights violations.

“The Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, is viewed as a hero…”

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/09/027148.php  

Gina Loudon: The Palin Story from Vanity Fair

“Remember Vanity Fair (you know–the stale, old magazine that no one buys unless they are on the cover or they are wishing they were, like Joy Behar)?  The recent hit piece on Sarah Palin by Michael Joseph Gross reveals that they must be as desperate as the rest of the MSM for sales/ratings, because they have lost all credibility, if they ever had any.”

BigJournalism /gloudon/2010/09/03/the-truth-about-that-dishonest-vanity-fair-palin-story

Restoring Honor Video

All at http://www.watchglennbeck.com/restoringhonor/

Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_dnE0KODsE&feature=player_embedded#

Phil Valentine Song and Film: “An Inconsistent Truth”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3CIPnQUOK0

Announcements at p. 6 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“It’s good when politicians are investigated before they get elected.” WABC, 5:13AM

“We have spent tomorrow today.” Mark Steyn

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. NO SIGNS PLEASE!

Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

NO to Cap & Trade!!!! September 8^th,11 AM, 90 Church St, Manhattan, next to the stock market. Secret auction to be held for cap and trade shares.

Buses at http://americansforprosperity.org/083110-join-us-cap-trade-protest-wednesday-september-8-new-york-city

Caroline Glick: “American Jews Silent…”

 “The prime minister’s time is better spent in Jerusalem than with an arrogant American president.” 7:15 AM, 9/3/10, WNTP, with Rick Santorum.

“Despite a multi-million dollar media blitz, Israelis are not buying the US-financed Geneva Initiative’s attempt to convince us that we have a Palestinian partner. A week after the pro-Palestinian group launched its massive online promotion urging people to join its Facebook page, a mere 634 people had answered the call. 

“The US-funded agitprop involved ads in which senior Fatah propagandists were featured telling Israelis we can trust them this time around. The reason for its failure was made clear by a public opinion poll taken Tuesday night for Channel 10. When asked if they believed that Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is serious about making peace with Israel, two-thirds of Israelis said no. Only 23 percent said he was serious and 17 percent said they didn’t know.

“Moreover, most Israelis have had it with the peace paradigm based on Israeli concessions of land and national rights in exchange for Palestinian terror and political warfare.”

http://carolineglick.com/

See also “The Israeli Left knows no matter how forcefully its platforms are rejected by public, the US government will embrace its members.”

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=186537

Defense Minister Barak Ehud: Israel to Cede Parts of Jerusalem?

“What are the principles of a peace deal that you believe can be agreed upon by the conclusion of the talks?

“Two states for two nations; an end to the conflict and the end of all future demands; the demarcation of a border that will run inside the Land of Israel, and within that border will lie a solid Jewish majority for generations and on the other side will be a demilitarized Palestinian state but one that will be viable politically, economically, and territorially; keeping the settlement blocs in our hands; retrieving and relocating the isolated settlements into the settlement blocs or within Israel; a solution to the refugee problem [whereby refugees return to] the Palestinian state or are rehabilitated by international aid; comprehensive security arrangements and a solution to the Jerusalem problem.”

What is the solution in Jerusalem?

“West Jerusalem and 12 Jewish neighborhoods that are home to 200,000 residents will be ours. The Arab neighborhoods in which close to a quarter million Palestinians live will be theirs. There will be a special regime in place along with agreed upon arrangements in the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the City of David.”

Haaretz /barak-to-haaretz-israel-ready-to-cede-parts-of-jerusalem-in-peace-deal-1.311356

Charles Krauthammer: “Our Distracted Commander-in-Chief”

“Many have charged that President Obama’s decision to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan 10 months from now is hampering our war effort. But now it’s official. In a stunning statement last week, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway admitted that the July 2011 date is ‘probably giving our enemy sustenance.’

“A remarkably bold charge for an active military officer. It stops just short of suggesting aiding and abetting the enemy. Yet the observation is obvious: It is surely harder to prevail in a war that hinges on the allegiance of the locals when they hear the U.S. president talk of beginning a withdrawal that will ultimately leave them to the mercies of the Taliban.

“How did Obama come to this decision? ‘Our Afghan policy was focused as much as anything on domestic politics,’ an Obama adviser told the New York Times’ Peter Baker. ‘He would not risk losing the moderate to centrist Democrats in the middle of health insurance reform and he viewed that legislation as the make-or-break legislation for his administration.’

WaPo /article/2010/09/02/AR2010090203991.html

November Is Coming, by Americans for Prosperity, Available from Mark Levin at https://www.sickofspending.com/  

Campaign Videos of the Week: DC Caller

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/03/thedcs-campaign-videos-of-the-week/

Lee Cary: GOP Leadership’s Last Chance

 “Still feeling betrayed by the GOP’s failure to live up to its promises going back to soon after the Contract with America, conservative voters are preparing to march to the polls in decisive numbers, but not with wild-eyed enthusiasm for the GOP. As they vote to oust the current Democrat Congress, under their breath, they’ll be muttering the warning, “This is your last chance, Republicans….” 

“Meanwhile, there is no Summer of Recovery. The federal government continues to grow in size and influence. And the most audacious misnomer of the century to date is “bailout,” for our sinking ship of state isn’t being emptied of any water at all. Instead, Congress continues to shoot large-caliber holes into the bottom of the boat with every subsequent “bailout,” as the water level in the engine room rises ever higher….

“Today, the Tea Party isn’t configured as a political party. It’s a hydra-headed grassroots movement — one unimaginable before the days of the internet and cable news. It’s like a big, gangly, uncoordinated kid. Its leadership is local and diverse. Liberals like to say Dick Armey or others are behind it all. That’s nuts.

“Its strength is gained, in part, because it lacks a single face, or even a cadre of faces. It has millions of faces. It’s not a personality-in-the-moment, like TR or Perot; it’s a purpose-in-a-movement. And the politicians of both parties fear (and often loathe) it because they can’t control it.”

AmericanThinker.com/2010/08/how_a_gop_november_victory_cou.html

TEA demands smaller government, more individual responsibility, and a more open religious commitment. There are many parallels between Obama and Lincoln and, in an ironic way, the South rises again and Obama will try to put it down…More later….

Also by Lee Cary: “The Joe Miller Lesson Applied to the GOP Congressional Leadership”

“In April 1861, General of the Army Winfield Scott, who’d been involved in every American conflict since the War of 1812, proposed the “Anaconda Plan” to President Lincoln. It was Scott’s grand strategy to form a blockade of the Confederacy that encompassed sending troops and ships down the Mississippi River and blockading the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the United States. The idea was to choke off the South’s materiel ability to make war. Scott, like most Northern leaders at the time, underestimated the South’s belligerency. 

“Scott’s protégé, Major General George B. McClellan, became the executor of Scott’s plan, though modified. McClellan knew how to prep an army for war, but not how to make war. Generals Grant and Sherman would eventually lead the fight and win the Civil War. McClellan was an historical placeholder until Sam Grant and “Uncle Billy” emerged as the North’s premier war fighters. They envisioned complete victory. McClellan envisioned the absence of defeat.

“Like McClellan, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have been historical placeholders as the GOP maneuvers through an internal struggle to define what it stands for in opposition to a Democratic Party firmly controlled by its left wing. Let’s face it – McConnell and Boehner are not the leaders of the GOP’s future. They fought and lost the last war against the Democrats, and they appear generally disengaged in the battle underway to define the GOP of the future.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_joe_miller_lesson_applied.html

More Youthful, Diverse GOP?

“Washington’s chattering class zeroed in Tuesday on a potential but still nonexistent leadership battle between House Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor after members of the press received their advance copies of the latter’s new book, “Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders.” While the book may indeed elevate Cantor, who co-authored the book with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, its title couldn’t make its purpose any clearer – the trio sets out to prove that there’s a new Republican Party emerging that’s younger, bolder and more diverse.”

RealClearPolitics /2010/09/01/young_guns_push_a_youthful_diverse_gop_106969.html

Justice vs. Joe Arpaio

“The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics.

The lawsuit calls Arpaio and his office’s defiance “unprecedented,” and said the federal government has been trying since March 2009 to get officials to comply with its probe of alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and jail policies that discriminate against people with limited English skills

“Arpaio had been given until Aug. 17 to hand over documents the federal government first asked for 15 months ago.

“Arpaio called the Justice Department actions harassment at a news conference Thursday morning in downtown Phoenix. His office has said it won’t hand over additional documents because federal authorities haven’t said exactly what they were investigating.”

And on yesterday’s interview with Mark Levin, Joe said he’s going out and arrest some more people…

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9HVV8AO0&show_article=1

See also Byron York: “New Evidence Undermines Fed’s Case Against Arizona”

“In addition to the drive to kill the new law, Attorney General Eric Holder is also suing the Maricopa Community College system in Phoenix, alleging it broke the law by requiring a job seeker to provide a green card before being hired. And on Thursday the Justice Department filed suit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office, run by the flamboyant Joe Arpaio, as part of an extended investigation into alleged civil rights violations there.

“Despite the splash of attention from the newest lawsuit, the Justice Department’s investigation of Arpaio could end badly for Holder.”

WashingtonExaminer /New-evidence-undermines-feds_-case-against-Arizona-705578-102106209.html

David Eldridge, Washington Times: Delaware – O’Donnell vs. Castle

Levin & Hannity back O’Donnell…Castle voted for Cap & Trade and for ObamaCare…

“The aftershocks from Alaska are being felt clear across the country in Delaware.

“Days after underdog Joe Miller knocked off Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary there, Delaware GOPRep. Michael N. Castle – long seen as a prohibitive favorite to capture the state’s open Senate seat in November – announced plans for a major ad buy targeting his own “tea party”-backed rival ahead of the Sept. 14 primary.

“Mr. Castle, a moderate who has long faced complaints from the party’s more conservative wing over his voting record, faces a feisty challenge from tea party candidate Christine O’Donnell in a race that has already turned nasty. The winner will take on soon-to-be Democratic nominee Chris Coons, executive of New Castle County.”

WashingtonTimes.com/news/2010/sep/2/in-delaware-gop-insurgent-storms-castle/

Muhammad Believed in Women’s Rights

“This week sees the launch of a hilarious new campaign called “Inspired by Muhammad” (as we are now all expected to spell Mohammed). It claims to want to “improve the public understanding of Islam and Muslims”. It is being strongly pedalled by taxpayer-funded Muslim organisations. Which makes it another nice example of the British people being preached to and proselytized in an Islamic way, presumably at our own expense.

The site is well worth a visit. Its “Who was Muhammad?” section is particularly delicious. There are sections on Mohammed “the orphan”, Mohammed “the shepherd” and Mohammed “the husband”. There are, sadly, no sections on Mohammed “the war criminal” or Mohammed “the close friend of a little girl”.

FaithFreedom /uk-poster-campaign-mohammed-believed-in-womens-rights-really/

More seriously, “Why Moderates Are Scarce” by Joshua Gilder.

“As past statements of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf continue to surface, many Americans have concluded that the would-be builder of a mosque at Ground Zero is lying when he calls himself a “moderate” representative of his faith. The more disturbing possibility, however, is that he’s telling the truth — that Rauf is indeed the voice of mainstream Islam.

“One indication is the resounding silence from the rest of the Islamic community. If that community were truly moderate — as we in the West understand the term — one might expect it to distance itself from a man who blames the U.S. for the 9/11 attacks, says we have more innocent blood on our hands than al-Qaeda, and refuses to disown the genocidal agenda of Hamas.

“A few brave Muslim individuals have indeed come out against the mosque, but they are exceptions. Where are the large numbers of Muslims who find Rauf’s statements offensive? Where are their organizations and institutions? Why aren’t they weighing in to repudiate Rauf and his apparent aims?”

NationalReview.com/articles/245415/why-islamic-moderates-are-so-scarce-joshua-gilder

Hillary Spent $10K on Rauf’s Book – Congress Investigates

“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wants the State Department to explain its use of taxpayer funds to purchase and distribute Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s book What’s Right With Islam.
“Certainly Senate Foreign Relations Committee members will want some briefing from the State Department,” Andy Fisher, the spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations told HUMAN EVENTS. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had no immediate reaction to the controversy.
“On the House side, Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is “looking into the matter.” Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) would not comment as of press time.

“The State Department spent $10,000 of taxpayer funds to buy 2,000 copies of the book written by Ground Zero mosque promoter Feisal Abdul Rauf. U.S. embassy employees are distributing the book during the imam’s taxpayer-funded tour to Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“But the arrangement calls into question whether the U.S. government’s funding of a book which promotes the Muslim religion is in violation of the 1st Amendment’s separation of church and state.”

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=38802 

What is it about Beck and Palin that power their popularity? 

“They tap into the emotional joy of being an American; for the great fortune of being an American; for the wondrous nobility of this country in helping others.  They make common flag-waving Americans feel like they are not alone.  When the political and media elite keep criticizing America for small infractions, Beck and Palin remind us that America is truly the greatest country in the history of the world.   This sense of togetherness, of common cause in aid of America, is what will elevate voter turnout.” Eugene Grace

Rendell to Skip 2^nd Bond Payment

“PHILADELPHIA (Dow Jones)–Harrisburg, Pa., which is already struggling with a debt load related to an incinerator project, will skip a $3.29 million payment on its general-obligation debt, the second-largest such default this year.

“‘Unfortunately, the City’s current financial situation precludes us from making any transfer to fund for these debt service payments at this time,’ the city’s interim chief of staff and business administrator, Robert Kroboth, wrote in a letter dated Aug. 30 to the paying agent, Bank of New York Mellon.

“Some bearish investors have been bracing for a wave of municipal defaults this year, which has yet to occur. But Harrisburg’s actions could be interpreted as an omen, which could weaken municipal bond prices, particularly for Pennsylvania municipalities, said Matt Fabian, managing director at Municipal Market Advisors in Westport, Conn.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100831-712777.html

Announcements at p. 4 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“The Islamo-leftist ‘alliance’ is a pantomime horse in which the Left plays the rear end and Islam sets the direction and pace.” Mark Steyn. Andy McCarthy makes a similar argument in Grand Jihad…

NO to Cap & Trade!!!! September 8^th,11 AM, 90 Church St, Manhattan, next to the stock market. Secret auction to be held for cap and trade shares.

Buses at http://americansforprosperity.org/083110-join-us-cap-trade-protest-wednesday-september-8-new-york-city

Robert Spencer: Flags, not Signs for the Mosque Rally

“Please bring flags, not signs, to the 9/11 rally against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero. Pamela and I respectfully request that those of you who will be attending our protest against the Ground Zero mega mosque bring American flags, not signs. 9 x 12 sized flags. Nothing with big poles: the NYPD won’t allow big poles. Please get the word out now.

We will be confiscating signs. It is a solemn day. No signs. FLAGS. Tens of thousands of flags.

JihadWatch /2010/09/please-bring-flags-not-signs-to-the-911-rally-  

Protestant Ministers and Mormon Glenn

“Glenn Beck’s rally in Washington Saturday was a picture of unity on stage, but that wasn’t easy to accomplish, according to interviews with Christian ministers involved in planning the event.

“Beck, a Fox News personality, faced major objections and concerns within the evangelical community prior to the event due to his status as a Mormon who planned to lead a spiritual rally involving tens of thousands of Protestant Christians. Those concerns remain for numerous top Christian leaders.

“Beck also had to overcome major reservations held by black ministers he recruited to attend and appear on stage with him. Some African-American leaders rejected the invitation, fearing that they would be used as props to give Beck cover after he came under criticism from some black leaders for holding the event on the same spot Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years prior.

“But African-American leaders involved in the event, and some who decided not to come, said they were happy with Beck’s rally and the way that black ministers were involved.”
http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/01/glenn-becks-path-to-unity-a-rocky-road/

Lexington Green: What Beck Does

“Beck is building solidarity and cultural confidence in America, its Constitution, its military heritage, its freedom. This is a vision that is despised by the people who have long held the commanding heights of the culture. But is obviously alive and kicking.

“Beck is creating positive themes of unity and patriotism and freedom and independence which are above mere political or policy choices, but not irrelevant to them. Political and policy choices rest on a foundation of philosophy, culture, self-image, ideals, religion. Change the foundation, and the rest will flow from that. Defeat the enemy on that plane, and any merely tactical defeat will always be reversible.

“Beck is unabashed that God can be invoked in public places by citizens…”

http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/15295.html

Jonah Goldberg: United We Stood

“Predictably, the “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall last Saturday has evoked a lot of consternation.

“Because the rally explicitly and studiously avoided trumpeting a political agenda, it freed up a lot of people to fill in the blanks themselves. For instance, Greg Sargent of The Washington Post insists it was all a con: ‘As high-minded as that may sound, the real point of stressing the rally’s apolitical goals was political.’ By leaving the listener to infer an anti-Obama agenda from all of this talk of lost honor, host Glenn Beck was practicing ‘classic political demagoguery….

“When Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie asked a couple whether as “African-Americans” they felt comfortable in such a white audience, the woman responded emphatically but good-naturedly: “First of all, I’m not African, I am an American . . . a black American.’ She went on to explain how ‘these people’ – i.e., the white folks cheering her on – ‘are my family.’”

RealClearPolitics.com/articles/2010/09/01/united_they_did_stand_at_mall_106968.html

Jeffrey Lord, American Spectator: Beck about Politics, Religion, or ???

Thanks Ted,

“Believe it or not, I found this event to be a bit of an intellectual muddle.

“After considerable amounts of time doing a superb job on his television show analyzing American history — from early American religion to the Founders to the Progressives — and managing to draw a television audience of amazing size with all this, it was almost as if there was a bit of indecision as to what to say at this rally. Was this politics? Or religion? Or something else?

“In truth, I wasn’t sure.”

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/08/31/the-success-of-the-beck-rally

Victor Davis Hanson – Iraq Speech: A Tired Obama?

“But there was something bizarre about his entire Iraq speech — it was as if it were being delivered by an exhausted Obama factotum, rather than the animate Obama of old. So we got a flat Iraq / flat Afghanistan / flat hope-and-change recession address. It almost seemed a chore.

“Perhaps Obama’s ennui arises from the impossibility of squaring his circle. How could an erstwhile fierce critic of Iraq — as well as his diplomatic team (e.g., Biden with his loud wish to trisect Iraq, and Hillary Clinton with her “suspension of disbelief”)—convince us that Iraq was a “remarkable chapter…

“Also, the general framework of withdrawal was scheduled as part of the Bush/Petraeus status of force agreements with the Iraqis. Obama is to be congratulated for keeping to it, but chastised for suggesting that it was his own — and more so for not referencing the surge that made it all possible. So, again, it was a weird moment”?

NationalReview.com/corner/245340/iraq-through-looking-glass-victor-davis-hanson

AZ Got 30 Troops and 15 Signs…

DailyCaller /2010/09/02/arizona-now-has-30-national-guard-troops-and-15-billboard-signs

Hal Scherz, WSJ – Dems Offer to Fix BOCare

Thanks Ted,

“This was the line offered by Democrat Mark Critz, who won a special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district after expressing opposition to the law and promising to mend it—but not to repeal it. As a doctor I know something about unexpected recoveries, and this latest attempt to rescue ObamaCare from repeal needs to be taken seriously.

“For Democrats who voted for ObamaCare, this tactic is an escape route, a chance to distance themselves from the president with a vague promise to fix health-care reform in the next Congress.

“To counter this election-year ruse, my colleagues and I at www.Docs4PatientCare.org  are enlisting thousands of doctors in an unorthodox and unprecedented action. Our patients have always expected a certain standard of care from their doctors, which includes providing them with pertinent information that may affect their quality of life. Because the issue this election is so stark—literally life and death for millions of Americans in the years ahead—we are this week posting a “Dear Patient” letter in our waiting rooms.”

WSJ /SB10001424052748703369704575461840575037482.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

BOCare: FL loses Referendum Decision

“The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a ballot initiative that sought to amend the state’s constitution to establish that Florida residents have a right to refuse to purchase mandatory health insurance – including under President Obama’s reform effort.

“The state high court voted 5 to 2 to exclude the referendum issue from the November ballot.

“The action is a victory for supporters of the Obama health reform program and a setback for opponents, including state lawyers leading an effort in federal court in the Florida panhandle to have the national health insurance program declared unconstitutional.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/323146

Dana Millbank, WaPo: Christina Romer’s Farewell

“Lunch at the National Press Club on Wednesday caused some serious indigestion.

“It wasn’t the food; it was the entertainment. Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was giving what was billed as her ‘valedictory’ before she returns to teach at Berkeley, and she used the swan song to establish four points, each more unnerving than the last:

She had no idea how bad the economic collapse would be. She still doesn’t understand exactly why it was so bad. The response to the collapse was inadequate. And she doesn’t have much of an idea about how to fix things.

“What she did have was a binder full of scary descriptions and warnings, offered with a perma-smile and singsong delivery: ‘Terrible recession. . . . Incredibly searing. . . . Dramatically below trend. . . . Suffering terribly. . . . Risk of making high unemployment permanent. . . . Economic nightmare.’”

“Anybody want dessert?”

Washingtonpost /2010/09/01/AR2010090106148.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Small Decline in Illegals

“–Illegal immigrants make up about 28 percent of the foreign-born population in the U.S., down from 31 percent in 2007….

“The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in two decades — decreasing by 8 percent since 2007, a new study finds. The reasons range from the sour economy to Mexican violence and increased U.S. enforcement that has made it harder to sneak across the border.

“Much of the decline comes from a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central America and South America attempting to cross the southern border of the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which based its report on an analysis of 2009 census data.”

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HVCHPO1.htm

Climate Studies Torpedoed

“The global-warming establishment took a body blow this week, as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received a stunning rebuke from a top-notch independent investigation.

For two decades, the IPCC has spearheaded efforts to convince the world’s governments that man-made carbon emissions pose a threat to the global temperature equilibrium — and to civilization itself. IPCC reports, collated from the work of hundreds of climate scientists and bureaucrats, are widely cited as evidence for the urgent need for drastic action to “save the planet.”

“But the prestigious InterAcademy Council, an independent association of ‘the best scientists and engineers worldwide’ (as the group’s own Web site puts it) formed in 2000 to give ‘high-quality advice to international bodies,’ has finished a thorough review of IPCC practices — and found them badly wanting.”
NYpost /meltdown_of_the_climate_consensus_G0kWdclUvwhVr6DYH6A4uJ

Drudge: David Limbaugh, Crimes, at #1; Drudge’s Best Month

FLASH: AUGUST 2010 IS LARGEST AUGUST IN DRUDGEREPORT'S 16 YEAR HISTORY. PAGE VIEWED 772,638,752 TIMES [UP FROM 669,392,126 IN '09 AND 614,577,960 IN '08]. FROM NEW ZEALAND TO NORWAY, BUCKHEAD TO BERLIN, AND BACK AROUND, THANKS A BILLION!

Bob Guzzardi: Sestak’s Ears Marked

“Details from the Toomey Campaign: Enough is Enough: Time for Sestak to Come Clean and Release All Documents on Forbidden Earmark Request

“Allentown –  U.S Senate candidate and former small business owner Pat Toomey called on Congressman Joe Sestak to come clean about his latest earmark scandal and release all documents relating to his request for a $350,000 wind turbine project for a Philadelphia-area atheist group.

“Over the past couple of days, Congressman Sestak has offered vague statements and hollow excuses to try to cover up his attempt to skirt Congressional rules against earmarks for for-profit companies by funneling $350,000 for a wind turbine project to an atheist group by the name of the Thomas Paine Foundation.  The Morning Call recently uncovered that the $350,000 was never really intended for the Thomas Paine Foundation but for a for-profit corporation called New Way Energy LLC. 

“It is time for Congressman Sestak to come clean and answer the following questions:

1) Congressman Sestak says he was misled about the nature of the earmark, but the earmark recipient, Drew Devitt, told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review “I don’t believe I misled them.”  Who is telling the truth?

2) Congressman Sestak told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review he did the “appropriate due diligence” but what exactly did that “due diligence” entail?  How could “appropriate due diligence” have missed something that is so obviously against House rules?

3) Does Congressman Sestak do any research on earmark requests or does he simply throw taxpayer dollars at earmark requests regardless of House rules and the project’s worthiness?

4) Why did Congressman Sestak think this earmark project was worthy of spending taxpayer dollars on when Senators Casey and Specter rejected it?

Most importantly:  5) Will Congressman Sestak release the documents surrounding the Thomas Paine Foundation’s earmark request, including the request submitted by Drew Devitt and the request Congressman Sestak submitted to the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee?  Such disclosure might shed light on who is telling the truth.

“This is Congressman Sestak’s second earmark-related scandal and it raises serious questions about the reckless way in which he treats tax dollars,” Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik said.  “If Congressman Sestak breaks his own ethics pledge and violates Congressional rules in the House, why should Pennsylvanians believe he will act any differently in the Senate?” 

Starbucks Buds

“Starbucks, the nation’s largest coffee-shop chain, continued its rapid expansion Tuesday, opening its newest location in the men’s room of an existing Starbucks.

“‘This is a great addition,’ said Jonathan Connolly, a Boston-area banker who tried out the new Starbucks Tuesday. ‘I was enjoying my usual triple mocha latté in the main Starbucks, and I had to go to the bathroom, where three people were in line to use the stalls. The wait might have been a problem, but, to my great pleasure, there was another Starbucks right there, ready to serve me more delicious coffee. And the baristas were helpful and courteous.’” (June 27, 1998)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-starbucks-opens-in-rest-room-of-existing-starb,560/

Announcements at p. 4 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“I’m not going to die so that America can become socialist.” An American soldier

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

Steyn’s Back…

“Mark briefly returns from the grave this week to guest-host America’s Number One radio show. He’ll be back behind the golden EIB microphone of The Rush Limbaugh Show for six hours of substitute-host-level excellence-in-broadcasting (today) and Thursday at 12 noon Eastern.”

http://www.steynonline.com/

Obama on Iraq

Saddam’s forces mutilated children to force confessions from parents, filled graves with truckloads of the dead, and raped women and fed them to dogs…

“The troops in Iraq ‘have met every test that they faced,’ Obama said. ‘Now, it is our turn. Now, it is our responsibility to honor them by coming together, all of us, and working to secure the dream that so many generations have fought for — the dream that a better life awaits anyone who is willing to work for it and reach for it.’

But Republicans refused to allow Obama to move on without noting the credit they say was due to President Bush for the troop surge in 2007 that ultimately saved a losing war effort. Although Obama had opposed the surge as a senator, Republican leaders said he should have given Bush kudos for its success.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/01/obamas-iraq-speech-shifts-focus-economy-draws-gop/

Editors, National Review – “Securing our Interests, and Iraq’s”: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/245330/securing-our-interests-and-iraq-s-editors

CAIR’s Public Service Announcements

An American Muslim advocacy organization will launch a national public service announcement campaign tomorrow, designed to challenge what the group calls “growing anti-Muslim bigotry sparked by opposition” to the planned mosque on Park Place in lower Manhattan.

“The stepped-up rhetorical and physical attacks on the American Muslim community and Islam require a positive, proactive response that will help counter the almost hysterical campaign of misinformation by a vocal minority of bigots,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “These public service announcements have the potential to reach millions of Americans with a message of religious inclusion and mutual understanding.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/47919/20100831/mosque-islam.htm

Robert Spencer – Why Muslims Wage Jihad: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/why-do-muslims-wage-jihad-1.html

New book: Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer: The Post-American Presidency

Zuhdi Jasser: http://www.aifdemocracy.org/

AZ Sections under Drug Control

“The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

“The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

“They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/31/signs-in-arizona-warn-of-smuggler-dangers/

See also Michelle Malkin: NationalReview/arizona-vs-u-n-human-rights-police-michelle-malkin

Chris Freind: Vacation in Avalon?

A reminder of Cleveland…Nick Gillespie of Reason.com has a fine CD about how rules and rust pulled down and hold down a former major city…it’s also happened to Jersey. I have copies…JB

“Without question, Avalon is one of the best beach towns on the South Jersey coast. Jutting a mile farther out in the Atlantic than other shore points, its cool ocean breezes and pristine beaches make for a fantastic family vacation.

“That is, unless you happen to cross the Avalon Beach Patrol, who seem to relish acting like storm-troopers.

“A case earlier this month illustrates just how out-of-control the Beach Patrol — and by extension, Avalon itself — has become.

“As is the case with most Shore towns, beach tags are required. This policy has long irked the vast majority of beach-goers, who believe they more than pay the cost of beach preservation by the many taxes and fees levied on them. And they also believe, not unjustifiably, that the beach belongs to everyone, and no one should have to pay to use it.
“Disdain aside, most comply. Incredibly, though, that wasn’t good enough for the Avalon Patrol.

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2010/08/31/vacation-in-avalon-think-twice/

Obama Tells UN How Great He Is

The same CDs that he gave to the Queen?

“President Obama’s administration recently submitted a report to the United Nations on human rights in America. The 29-page report shows the nation badly flawed but fortunate to have a Nobel Prize winner as its leader. The report is billed as “a partial snapshot of the current human rights situation in the United States, including some of the areas where problems persist in our society.” Among the nation’s shortcomings listed in the report:

» Arizona has dared to try to enforce immigration laws that the federal government will not. But don’t worry, Obama is suing them.

» We incarcerate dangerous terrorists at a military prison in Guantanamo Bay. But don’t worry — Obama has signed three executive orders to protect them from the last administration’s rough handling and he “remains committed to closure of the Guantanamo detention facility.”

» It’s too hard to form a union, the document says — either that or unions have just become less relevant. But don’t worry, “there are several bills in our Congress that seek to strengthen workers’ rights” — bills like “card check,” which will help institutionalize union intimidation and coercion by taking away a worker’s right to a secret ballot.

The report also notes that as bad as our human rights situation is, help is on the way — all thanks to Obama.”
WashingtonExaminer.com/opinion/Obama-tells-the-U_N_-how-great-he-is-653947-101822078.html

Bob Guzzardi: How Great Michelle Is

Dear Little People of Amerika:

For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working, little people of America for paying $242 thousand dollars plus additional expenses for my recent vacation in Marbella, Spain. My daughter, Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time. Honestly, you just haven’t lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel. I feel your financial pain so we kept it small and booked barely 70 rooms for our friends, family and servants. Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.

Air Force 2 used a paltrey 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. It costs only $11,500 per hour to operate Air Force 2 and each additional plane for the other members of our party group.  These are only rough estimates, but they are close (who’s counting?). That’s quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must impose on the guilt-ridden, racist American people to breathe just little bit less for the next few months so that we can lessen our combined carbon footprint. 

I know that times are hard and millions of you are struggling to just put food on the table and I do want you all to know how much I appreciate your sacrifice.  I do hope you all find a nice cushy government job real soon. That luxury vacation in Maine that Barrack took us on a few weeks ago just pooped me out so I just had to get away for a few days. I promise I’ll write more from Martha’s Vineyard where we will be spending our sixth luxury vacation (we deserve it) this year with more of our family and friends.  Perhaps more Americans should consider careers as travel agents, valets, maids and baggage handlers.  Allah knows, Barry and I need them.
Cordially, Michelle Obama

Paul Bedard: Burton Hersh – How Great Teddy Was….

“How lucid was Ted when he wrote the 1965 Immigration Act?

“For many, the name Chappaquiddick conjures images of a drunken Sen. Edward Kennedy hitting on Mary Jo Kopechne in his Oldsmobile, losing control, and plunging into the water of Poucha Pond on Chappaquiddick Island, adjacent to Martha’s Vineyard where President Obama was vacationing. Kopechne, a family friend, drowned; and Teddy fumbled for excuses about what happened.

“Now, a year after Kennedy died, his lifelong biographer Burton Hersh, armed with fresh interviews with Kennedy’s mistress at the time, tells Whispers that the whole July 1969 episode should have been handled as a simple crash, leaving the senator’s legacy untainted. ‘It was a car accident,’ he says. “Ted was a terrible driver. He never paid much attention to where he was going.”

USNews /washington-whispers/2010/8/30/rewritingkennedys-chappaquiddick-accident.html

See also: Brimelow P (1995) Alien Nation: Common Sense about America’s Immigration Disaster. NY: Random House.

Education Staff – Join Me at the Sharpton Rally – Arne Duncan

“President Obama’s top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall. “ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the ‘Reclaim the Dream’ rally and march,” began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.”

WashingtonExaminer /Education-secretary-urged-his-employees-to-go-to-Sharpton_s-rally

Also, from Hot Air: “The official line from the White House on the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” rally was What rally? That position is certainly understandable from a political perspective, and probably not bad from an overall perspective, either.  The federal government shouldn’t take an inordinate amount of interest in lawful and peaceful political demonstrations in most cases, although certainly candidates for office should take heed of the electorate’s expressions of anger and dissatisfaction in this cycle especially.

However, it appears that one large portion of the federal government not only took an interest in another rally, but its Cabinet Secretary cajoled its staff to attend it.” 

 HotAir/2010/08/31/education-secretary-pushed-employees-to-attend-sharpton-rally/

Murkowski Conceded

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100901/ap_on_re_us/us_alaska_senate

Wealthy Lawmakers Wealthier

The Matthew Effect…

“The wealthiest members of Congress grew richer in 2009 even as the economy struggled to recover from a deep recession.
“The 50 wealthiest lawmakers were worth almost $1.4 billion in 2009, about $85.1 million more than 12 months earlier, according to The Hill’s annual review of lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms.
“ Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) tops the list for the second year in a row.”

TheHillwealthy-lawmakers-increased-their-riches-as-economy-sputtered-in-2009-

Slideshow – the 50 wealthiest: TheHilthe-hills-50-wealthiest-list-slideshow

Sestak’s Earmark: Wind Turbines for Athiests

“Joe Sestak has ventured, perhaps unwittingly, into a political twilight zone.

The Democrat congressman has come under heavy fire for a proposed $350,000 federal earmark that could violate House ethics rules against awarding tax dollars to for-profit companies.

The earmark, proposed but not present in the 2011 fiscal year budget, was requested by a group called The Thomas Paine Foundation, based near Philadelphia. The Foundation is part of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, a non-profit atheist advocacy group.

Here’s where things get really strange: The Paine Foundation requested the $350,000 grant to develop a prototype wind turbine “that could be floated offshore, utilizing recent developments in air bearing technology,” according to Sestak’s congressional website.

About the only thing that the atheist-affiliated Foundation and “air bearing technology” grants have in common is a man named Drew Devitt. Devitt is listed as the sole officer for the Foundation, and is also the head of two related for-profits: New Way Air Bearings, and New Way Energy, LLC.

In speaking with the Allentown Morning Call, Devitt was surprisingly candid about his motives. “One of the things Obama did for 2010 was to eliminate for-profit filing for line items, so obviously New Way wasn’t qualified,” said Devitt. “But Thomas Paine wasn’t for-profit, so it was eligible to file for a line item.”

NationalReview/joe-sestak-350k-atheists-ethics-and-wind-power-thomas-shakely

Employment with CAIR

“Please send a resume, cover letter and writing sample as a Word document or PDF to info@ok.cair.com, or fax 405-246-9442 with ATTN: Human Resources and …
www.cair.com/Employment.aspx”

Announcements at p. 4 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” Hank Mencken

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

Hugh Hewitt: 70% of Us Feel Conned

“The new tools of communication and the ease of movement have unleashed a tumultuous era of politics driven by the demand that elites not attempt to speak for, or condescend to, average citizens. They will not quietly or passively be lectured to, or insulted by, the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg or any anchor on any network, any columnist in any paper, or any blogger on any Web site.

“The people on the Mall and the millions more who watched the gathering with satisfaction rather than fear are quite simply sick of the left, and of its vast sneer toward the traditions, values and, yes, faith of the American middle class.

“The American Enterprise Institute’s Arthur Brooks has quite accurately described America as a 70/30 nation, with the 70 percent presently massively underrepresented in the federal government, the Manhattan-Beltway media elite and academia.

“The 70 percent is appalled by the placebo economics practiced by the president and the Congress over the past two years, shocked by its profligacy with the wealth of the republic, and sickened by the looting of the next generation’s opportunities.”
WashingtonExaminer /Seventy-percent-of-Americans-know-they_ve-been-conned

Judea Pearl: Below the Ground Zero Mosque

Mr. Pearl is father of Daniel Pearl…

“If one accepts that the 19 fanatics who flew planes into the Twin Towers were merely self-proclaimed Muslims who, by their very act, proved themselves incapable of acting in the name of “true Islam,” then building a mosque at Ground Zero should evoke no emotion whatsoever; it should not be viewed differently than, say, building a church, a community center or a druid shrine.
A more realistic explanation is that most Americans do not buy the 19 fanatics story, but view the the 9/11 assault as a product of an anti- American ideology that, for good and bad reasons, has found a fertile breeding ground in the hearts and minds of many Muslim youngsters who see their Muslim identity inextricably tied with this anti-American ideology.”
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=186290

Muslims: Second Class Citizens?

The dispute is not about Islam but about sharia…

“‘Will young Muslims conclude they are second-class citizens in the U.S. now and always?’

“‘They’re already struggling to balance, `I’m American, I’m Muslim,’ and their ethnic heritage. It’s very disconcerting,’ said Zulfiqar, 32, who worked for former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat, and now serves Penn’s campus ministry. “A controversy like this can make them radical or become more conservative in how they look at things or how they fit into the American picture.”

“Whatever the outcome, the uproar over a planned Islamic center near the World Trade Center site is shaping up as a signal event in the story of American Islam.”

WashingtonPost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/29/AR2010082901186.html

Deroy Murdock: “It’s Not the Location, It’s the Sharia”

Sharia is incompatible with our constitution. Our constitution is the contract for our exercise of rights. Sharia implies no rights to build or to do much of anything…

“So far, the Ground Zero mosque controversy has focused excessively on its proximity to the scene of the September 11 massacre. The Park51 Islamic center would stand 560 feet from that revered site. Would moving it 5,600 feet away calm this storm?

Perhaps, but far more important is what would happen inside this mosque. That ought to determine if it should be even closer to Ground Zero, or if it even should open anywhere in America.”

NationalReview.com/ ground-zero-mosque-it-s-not-location-it-s-sharia-deroy-murdock

Carolyn Glick: The Israeli Left – BO’s Friends

“The Left knows that no matter how forcefully its platforms are rejected by the public, the US government will embrace its members and fund its projects. This week in the leadup to the talks, the openly subversive Geneva Initiative has launched a multimillion dollar public relations campaign targeting the public.
“Its goal is to persuade Israelis that Fatah is a legitimate partner for peace. The campaign is funded by USAID.”

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=186537

InfoWars: Justice vs. Patriots

Lincoln imprisoned 15,000-30,000 editors, lawyers, and mouthy citizens for criticizing his war…

“The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as “a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations.”

InfoWars.com/obamas-department-of-justice-puts-out-master-patriot-hit-list/

Big Numbers in Gov’t Anti Poverty Programs

“WASHINGTON — Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.”

USAtoday.com/news/washington/2010-08-30-1Asafetynet30_ST_N.htm

Sock Puppet Reported AZ to UN

“PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer demanded Friday that a reference to the state’s controversial immigration law be removed from a State Department report to the United Nations’ human rights commissioner.

“The U.S. included its legal challenge to the law on a list of ways the federal government is protecting human rights.

“In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brewer says it is “downright offensive” that a state law would be included in the report, which was drafted as part of a UN review of human rights in all member nations every four years.”

Yahoo.com/s/ap/20100828/ap_on_re_us/us_brewer_un_report  

AfP: Christie’s Windmills

“Last week Governor Christie signed into law the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act – a bill that mandates a percentage of New Jersey’s energy come from windmills off our coast.

To finance the project, the governor is offering $100 MILLION in tax credits to lure businesses that build and maintain turbines — while also using “Cap & Trade” money derived from the RGGI scheme!

It’s bad enough that the governor is ipso facto promoting “Cap & Trade” by using the RGGI funds for this windmill scheme, but a Wall Street Journal article by Robert Bryce, published mere days after the governor’s announcement, provides some startling facts about windmills.

“Bryce points out that windmills actually do little at all to reduce carbon emissions, the primary purpose for investing in them.”

AmericansforProsperity.org/082610-governor-christie-tilting-windmills

See Robert Bryce: Windpower Won’t Cool Down the Planet (hint, search Robert Bryce by Google and endrun the subscription box for the WSJ.)

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.html

John Bolton: About Obama

“I’d call him the first post-American president and by that I mean – certainly in contemporary times – his view of America and its role in the world is different from the line of presidents since Franklin Roosevelt,” Bolton explained, when asked exactly why he finds the president’s foreign policy so offensive. “He doesn’t see himself effectively as a real advocate for America’s interest. He doesn’t see the world as a particularly challenging place. And, frankly, I just don’t think he cares that much about foreign policy.”
http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/30/john-bolton-criticizer-in-chief/

Iran: “Oh Lord” to Replace Google

“It all began in the early 1990’s with Internet search engine startups like Excite, Galaxy, Lycos and Webcrawler.
“Then Yahoo and Alta Vista moved in, followed only a few years later by what would become the neighborhood bully: Google.
“Now Iran would like to introduce the new kid on the block…
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome ‘Oh Lord,’ a homegrown Iranian search engine sure to highlight very high resolution photos of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the regretful testimony of green movement opposition activists.”
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=186363

Blogger Bruce Majors

Nancy Pelosi’s condo: Washington Harbour, 3030 K Street NW, Washington DC 20007, (30th and K Streets NW)

Harry Reid’s condo: Ritz-Carlton, 1155 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20037, (23rd and M Streets NW)

Bob Bauer/Anita Dunn: 4413 Stanford Street, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Tom Daschle’s house: 2830 Foxhall Road NW, Washington DC 20007

(Feel free to protest!)

http://paintmainered.ning.com/profiles/blogs/so-you-are-coming-to-the-828

Announcements at p. 6 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“First the British ignored me, then ridiculed me, then attacked me, and then said, “You win.” Gandhi.

“There were two automobiles in Ohio in 1895. They collided.” George Will

NO TO NYC MOSQUE!!!!! Bus leaving from the Plymouth Meeting Mall on September 11th at 9:30 am to Ground Zero for protest against Mega-Mosque. $30.00 per person. Contact Karin Stocking to join up or e-mail at karinstocking@msn.com

Glenn Beck Rally (19,700,000 Google hits)…

Four months ago, Beck didn’t know how to organize the rally but felt that it had something to do with faith, hope, and charity. He prayed on his knees on his office rug and God said, “You have the pieces, put them together.”

He reminded several hundred thousand of us, while the orange chopper circled overhead, that God was the partner, teacher, and chaperone for everything in this country…a least until recently. Beck also had the wife of a slain pilot explain their scholarship fund (Special Operations Warrior Foundation; www.SpecialOps.org ) for Special Ops orphans. And he had a warrior’s mother – one Sarah Palin – talk about what the mothers of our fighters do for our republic. (Our shouts for her probably startled Lincoln.)

I heard all this standing with no more than 4 inches between me and someone else in every direction but straight up and straight down. And the guys and gals who couldn’t stay seated in kindergarten still had to be somewhere else no matter the crowd density.

Feeling trapped by the crowd, I left after Sarah but before Alveda King or the arrival of Al Sharpton and his union friends.

Michele Bachmann’s rally at the Washington Monument drew a crowd a bit before noon. I felt guilty missing it.

Glenn started a “badge of merit” in George Washington’s tradition.  Washington designed a recognition for farmers and villagers who acted as heroes. Washington’s medal was later reworked by FDR into the Purple Heart. Beck now takes us back to our founders…

I passed a 20-year-old guy who happened to be black and wearing a “Buck Ofama” pin. “Cool pin” elicited a smile and “Thanks man.” When will Al-226,000-hits-Sharpton catch on that the game has changed?

See also Beck’s thoughts about BO’s religion: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/29/AR2010082903405.html

“Stuff” on FM WTOP at about 6 AM, August 27th

The news department was atwitter about a blogger…and concentrated on 20% of his content…

Bruce Majors (http://PaintMaineRed.ning.com/profiles/blogs/so-you-are-coming-to-the-828) ,

“If you are on the subway stay on the Red line between Union Station and Shady Grove, Maryland. If you are on the Blue or Orange line do not go past Eastern Market (Capitol Hill) toward the Potomac Avenue stop and beyond; stay in NW DC and points in Virginia. Do not use the Green line or the Yellow line. These rules are even more important at night. There is of course nothing wrong with many other areas; but you don’t know where you are, so you should not explore them.

“If on foot or in a cab or bus, stay in Bethesda, Arlington (preferably north Arlington), Crystal City, Falls Church, Annandale, or Alexandria, or in DC only in northwest DC west (i.e. larger street numbers) of 14th or 16th streets, or if on Capitol Hill only in SE Capitol Hill (zip 20003) between 1st and 8th Streets, not farther out than 8th (e.g. 9th, 10th etc). (Or stay on the Mall and at the various monuments.) Again there are many other lovely places, from the Catholic University of America to Silver Spring, Maryland. But you don’t know where you are so you cannot go, especially at night, unless you take me with you.”

 He gave these cautions for his mother. The D.C. Council reacted that we visitors really would benefit from visiting D.C. neighborhoods.  The station – fair and balanced – also asked if Beck was really about politics.

See also Robert Costa: “Glenn Beck’s Revival” http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/245045/glenn-becks-revival-robert-costa

Reclaiming the Dream Rally: Liberal Causes, Slams Beck: http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/29/reclaiming-the-dream-rally-touts-liberal-causes-slams-beck/

Americans for Prosperity, 8/27/2010

We crowded into seminar rooms where we took notes and into banquet halls where we jumped and shouted for Michele Bachmann, Dick Morris, Herman Cain, Bob McConnell, and George Will.

AfP’s President, Tim Phillips, gave homework: 1) find 10 conservative friends, 2) get them to call and visit homes on behalf of conservative candidates, and 3) take 10 conservative friends to the polls.

Events that caught me:

1)      David Koch, able target for lefty essays, was also an able host. No matter about New Yorker drivel.

2)       Representative Michele Bachmann…mother of 5, foster mother to 25, and now Pelosi’s favorite target. Whip-cracking speech about blocking BO and repealing his obnoxious programs. She needs some money…

3)      Governor Bob McDonnell: “By the authority vested in me, 2500 of you are now Virginians.” The hall shook. (He won his first election by 1/8^th voter per precinct. Everyone counts!)

4)      George Will, about 69 and still up on his baseball, was stumped by how stupid we are about our debt and about the things we tolerate from Obama. Will filled his basement with filament-type light bulbs and remembers Bush’s spending. Also, Will spoke the unspeakable: “Ninety percent of the game in public schools is the quality of the families.” And in politics: “Gridlock is an American achievement”: The Founders intended it that way. And “Congress has an approval rating of 11%. Who ARE they?”

5)      David Jaget started www.RightNetwork.com  and has a full roster of shows – kids to comedy to drama to politics – to begin 9/8/2010. Watch them on your monitor, your computer, or your cell phone. “I’m in” from Kelsey Grammer and Comcast’s Ed Snider. Headquarters in Philadelphia, small investors welcome.

6)      Cap and Trade…endorsed by Chris Christie who invests $100 million for windmills on the NJ shore. States forming regional “greenhouses” and their taxpayers will have doubled utility bills in October. Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia are cut out of the Marcellus Shale mining…likewise for the Dakotas and the Bacchus shale. Meanwhile, the special people will have a “cap and trade shares auction” in New York. Protest at 90 Church St, NYC, next to Wall St., on September 8^th. (More later. C&T summary at http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_e185bfb2-191d-11df-a278-001cc4c03286.html)

Christie also assigned blame to his Education Secretary, Bret Schundler, canned for missing BO-coup education dollars. The odor is familiar…

7)      Internet – it has exploded in a market model, one without significant regulations, but may become a public utility and under the pen, whip, and chains of Mark Lloyd, Robert McChesney, their students, and Free Press. (Can you imagine the ‘Net as a version of Cleveland?) Visit www.NoInternetTakeover.com.  Also www.NakedEmperorNews.com.

8)      Bloggers – they once had thousands and we had few. We now have thousands and they’re depressed. Thanks to our moral indignation about being robbed and to lessons from AfP’s Erik Telford. Telford has a book, gratis, Blogging 101. ETelford@AFPHQ.org.

9)      Phil Kerpen…gifted asset for tracking and sometimes nudging congressmen. Works for AfP and is a regular on Fox. He cautioned us about Reid’s “Oil Spill Response Bill,” aka “Trust Fund Solvency Bill” that will raise our gas $0.10/gallon. And a bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing … usually a proprietary tool in coal and shale processing that its users would have to reveal to our government.

10)   What to do about Newt, Mitt, and Mac? The fellow – a 70-year-old – to my right at dinner thought that Obama is too young, that it takes decades to acquire all that a president needs to know. He also mentioned that he could always beat the younger guys when it was time to make a sale.

I sketched the research that finds males are most creative at birth, more so than most females, and use their enlarged right frontal mass to turn new experiences into familiar ones. Familiarity and routines belong to our left side. We appear to know more as we age but, with darned few exceptions, most of us repeat the same old stuff that we discovered as kids. (And we need wives 10 years younger to lead us around!) Senior politicians should be the coaches and cabinet secretaries for the younger ones who become president. Paul, David, Sarah, and Michele are at their peak … advance them now!

He also felt that the GOP needed someone other than Reagan. I objected but maybe I’m wrong. “Back to the future” has a greater ring than the moral indignation of “Take it back.”

11)   Older cities are choked with rules, needy people, and empty dwellings. Basic truth: Human communication opens doors to some people but shuts them to many others. Cleveland still struggles between opening up the action even though betraying generations of existing deals. And our whole country has become a Cleveland.

Meanwhile, I had David Limbaugh’s book always in my pack and often in my lap. (It’s a companion for Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption.) Multiple cases for impeachment are there and Mr. Darrell Issa is warming up….

More at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=586

Peter Boettke: Hayek Returns

Most living things make their own environments. Hayek noticed this in humans…

“Peter J. Boettke, shuffling around in a maroon velour track suit or faux-leather rubber shoes he calls “dress Crocs,” hardly seems like the type to lead a revolution.

“But the 50-year-old professor of economics at George Mason University in Virginia is emerging as the intellectual standard-bearer for the Austrian school of economics that opposes government intervention in markets and decries federal spending to prop up demand during times of crisis. Mr. Boettke, whose latest research explores people’s ability to self-regulate, also is minting a new generation of disciples who are spreading the Austrian approach throughout academia, where it had long been left for dead.”

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703418004575455911922562120-lMyQjAxMTAwMDIwNzEyNDcyWj.html

“Ground Zero Public Center May Get Public Financing”

“If it turns out to be financially feasible and if they can demonstrate an ability to pay off the bonds and comply with the laws concerning tax-exempt financing, we’d certainly consider it,” Sieber told Reuters.

“Spokesmen for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and the Islamic center and were not immediately available.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67Q5BW20100827

Justice Down on Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County, Arizona, man who calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” has until Sept. 10 to comply with a Justice Department request to explain his office’s “operations, policies and procedures” involving the arrest and detention of Hispanics, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

The Department has been investigating the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for alleged civil rights violations. Officials set the deadline following a meeting Tuesday with Arpaio’s attorneys in Washington. 

“If we do not receive clear and specific agreement for all of the [requests], we will conclude that completion cannot be achieved by voluntary means,” Judy Preston, acting chief of the agency’s Special Litigation Section, wrote to Sheriff’s Office attorney Robert Driscoll.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/08/justice-department-gives-second-ultimatum-in-sheriff-arpaio-investigation.html

Republicans Down on Justice

“If President Barack Obama needed any more incentive to go all out for Democrats this fall, here it is: Republicans are planning a wave of committee investigations targeting the White House and Democratic allies if they win back the majority.

“Everything from the microscopic — the New Black Panther party — to the massive –- think bailouts — is on the GOP to-do list, according to a half-dozen Republican aides interviewed by POLITICO.”

Think bribery? (JB)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41506.html

Today! Troops on AZ Border

But no law enforcement authority….

“PHOENIX (AP) – The first of 532 National Guard troops are set to begin their mission in the southern Arizona desert on Monday under President Barack Obama’s plan to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security, although they won’t have any law enforcement authority.

“Authorities would not say how many troops would start Monday, but said waves of them will be deploying every Monday until all 532 are on the Arizona border, likely by the end of September. In May, Obama ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the border.

“California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said the first of 224 National Guard troops allocated for his state have finished their training and are expected to be deployed to the state’s border on Wednesday.

“Troops in New Mexico  were in different stages of training and don’t yet know when they’ll be deployed on the border. A Texas National Guard spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.”

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9HS3G1G3&show_article=1

Andy McCarthy: “Why They Can’t Condemn Hamas”

“Hamas is a shibboleth. If you want to know whether an ostensible Muslim “moderate” is really moderate, ask him if Hamas is a terrorist organization.

“It is really not a hard question, even if Feisal Rauf can’t — or won’t — answer it. Rauf, the would-be imam of the controversial Ground Zero mosque, is also a stud in the State Department’s stable of ready-to-travel-on-your-dime “moderates.” That same State Department has branded Hamas a terrorist organization, and we can’t even get it to say that about the Taliban, the guys we’re fighting in the overseas contingency operation formerly known as the War on Terror.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/245004/why-they-can-t-condemn-hamas-andrew-c-mccarthy

EPA and Gun Control

Lead poisoning????????????/

“The National Rifle Association, already on high alert over gun control rumors, has gone to battle stations to fight a new scheme before the Environmental Protection Agency to restrict hunters and anglers from using lead bullets, shot and sinkers.

“Chief NRA lobbyist Chris Cox charges in a letter to the EPA that the effort amounts to “a vehicle to implement gun control” and could end hunting by most who can’t afford the higher priced alternatives to lead.”

http://politics.usnews.com/news/washington-whispers/articles/2010/08/27/nra-warns-against-new-gun-control-push–from-epa.html

Andy McCarthy: USS Cole Bomber – Trial Halted

“It’s a sleepy Friday in late August, the president is on another vacation, Congress is out of town, no one is paying much attention. What better time for the Obama administration to pull the plug, once again, on military commissions? This time, it has halted the case of top al-Qaeda operative Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was to be prosecuted by a military court for the Cole bombing. The Washington Post report is here, and Jen Rubin has thoughts at Contentions.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/244984/obama-administration-halts-commission-trial-against-cole-bomber-andy-mccarthy

Death Threats

“One of Washington’s principal supporters of the Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections. The number and intensity have reached such heights that the organization is leaving its downtown location near the FBI and moving to a high-security building near the U.S. Capitol.”

http://politics.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2010/08/25/tea-party-group-hit-with-death-threats

BO’s Most Popular with the Muslims

“A Gallup survey indicates that in the first half of this year, 78 percent of Muslims approved of the job the president’s doing in the White House, while just 24 percent of Mormons give Obama a thumbs up. According to the poll, the president’s approval rating among Protestants and other Christians was 43 percent, it stood at 50 percent for Catholics, 61 percent among Jews, 63 percent for Atheists, Agnostics and those with no religion, and 64 percent for those from other non-Christian religions. The president’s approval among all Americans stood at 48 percent.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/27/poll-muslims-have-highest-obama-approval-mormons-lowest/

Charles Krauthammer: A Lib’s Bottom Line

“Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the predicted 40-year liberal ascendancy (James Carville) into a full retreat. Ah, the people, the little people, the small-town people, the “bitter” people, as Barack Obama in an unguarded moment once memorably called them, clinging “to guns or religion or” — this part is less remembered — “antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.”

“That’s a polite way of saying: clinging to bigotry.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605233.html

Jonah Goldberg: Dorsal Fins

“You’ve got to wonder when White House political guru David Axelrod will look at the churning pools of poll data and, like Chief Brody in Jaws, say: “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

The analogy isn’t quite right, because in the movie, the shark ultimately loses. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Barack Obama and Axelrod victoriously paddle away on the flotsam of their own political wreckage. But in one sense, the analogy works just fine: This White House is rudderlessly lost at sea and inadequate to the challenges it faces.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/08/27/dorsal_fins_surround_white_house_106918.html

Announcements and Events

At http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

Announcements at  http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775

Hog swill…

August 30^th, 6:30PM, School Pension Crisis – PA Conservative Council

G. A. Stetson Middle School, 1060 Wilmington Pike (Rt. 202), West Chester, PA. info@paconservativecouncil.com

Nick Gillespie, ReasonTV: Cleveland & the Drew Carey Project

“Nick Gillespie is editor in chief of Reason.tv and Reason.com, which draws 2.5 million visits per month and features the staff weblog Hit & Run, named by Playboy, Washingtonian, and others as one of the best political blogs.” http://reason.com/people/nick-gillespie/articles?

He’s produced a sixty-minute CD on Cleveland’s decline.  Solutions-oriented comparisons with Houston, Chicago, and other cities in how taxes can be cut, business rules simplified, management improved, and school children saved through privatization of schools. Libertarian point of view without ads for Libertarians. Drew Carey a pivot for this project. Good entertainment. Good hints for saving Philadelphia? And for saving this nation from the same rules that choke initiative in most of our major cities.

I have five copies. Will share. Ideal for TEA meetings…and city councils.

Katherine Jean Lopez (NRO): God & Woman at Harvard

“A 2010 summa cum laude heads to a convent.”

“Don’t tell Mary Anne Marks the Catholic Church is an oppressive, misogynistic disaster. She knows better. And she’s got a Harvard degree, too.

Miss Marks, a native of Queens, N.Y., graduated from Harvard University this past semester with an undergraduate degree in classics and English, delivering her commencement address in Latin. This fall, she begins a new life, discerning her future consecrated to Christ as a Catholic religious sister with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

NationalReview/god-and-woman-harvard-kathryn-jean-lopez

TX Fights EPA Power Grab

“The state’s slogan is “Don’t mess with Texas.” But the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing just that, and at stake is whether the Obama administration can impose its global-warming agenda without a vote of Congress.

“President Obama’s EPA is already well down the path to regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, something the act was not designed to do. It has a problem, however, because shoehorning greenhouse gases into that 40-year-old law would force churches, schools, warehouses, commercial kitchens and other sources to obtain costly and time-consuming permits. It would grind the economy to a halt, and the likely backlash would doom the whole scheme.

“The EPA, determined to move forward anyway…” (Thanks Ted & Lou…)

WashingtonTimes.com/news/2010/aug/25/texas-fights-global-warming-power-grab/?page=1

“It’s Cheaper to Rent”

News bit on radio stations in the afternoon and 5 AM between Valley Forge and Washington, DC. Yes. There is virtue in being poor….your college kids now need your signature and your promise to pay for a credit card….some American companies have an abundance of cash and are sharing it with stockholders. Why? I speculated earlier about moral indignation causing the breakdown in contracts and deals. More specifically, Obama needs investment recovery and we’re not giving it to him, Nan, or Harry. Some Dems, meanwhile,  cave and want to extend tax cuts…how good it feels! Meanwhile, Barack thinks small business needs more stimulants. A symbol—this year’s salmonella has come from chicken feed….in Washington, Glenn Beck honors our military on the anniversary of Martin King’s Dream Speech. However, this time Palin is to speak and Sharpton is puzzled…puzzled, hell. He’s looking for part of the action and knows that C. J. Bryant (Run Away Slave http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55aujTwuJY8 ) is close in his rearview mirrors, advertising what Ds have done to blacks…

George Will: The Mid-East Process a Threat to Peace

“JERUSALEM — Immersion in this region’s politics can convince those immersed that history is cyclical rather than linear — that it is not one thing after another but the same thing over and over. This passes for good news because things that do change, such as weapons, often make matters worse.

A profound change, however, is this: Talk about the crisis between Israel and “the Arab world” is anachronistic. Israel has treaties with two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan, and Israel’s most lethal enemy is Iran, which is not an Arab state.”

Investors/Mideast-Peace-Process-A-Threat-To-Peace.htm

DC. Examiner: Bloomberg Out of Sync

“With New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg now condemning as “un-American” those who believe the ground zero mosque should be moved elsewhere, the ill-advised project’s most prominent defender is tottering on the precipice of the deep end. It is unfortunate that a man who made a fortune building a media company devoted to providing accurate and timely business information now resorts to such extreme rhetoric. The mayor needs to get a grip and apologize to those he has insulted, who include, according to multiple opinion surveys, clear majorities of New Yorkers and the American people.
WashingtonExaminer.com/ Defending-memory-of-9_11-victims-isn_t-_un-American

Michael Barone – More Dem Pains: Redistricting

“Seven states, according to projections by Polidata Inc., will gain a House seat, and Texas will gain four; nine states will lose a House seat, and Ohio will lose two. Overall, states carried by John McCain in 2008 will gain a net seven seats (and electoral votes), and states carried by Barack Obama will lose seven.

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean Republicans will gain House seats. That depends on redistricting — how the lines are drawn by the politicians in each state (or, in a couple of cases, by nonpartisan commissions).

“That’s particularly true in states with large numbers of districts and densely packed metropolitan areas. You can’t do much gerrymandering in a state with only a few districts. But you can in states with more than four or five.”

NationalReview/redistricting-could-prolong-democrats-pain-michael-barone

David Koch: Founder, Americans for Prosperity, a Lib Target

David Koch started Americans for Prosperity in 2004…and some libs are feeling the heat not only from AfP but also from Mr. Beck and Mr. Armey…see also Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism or Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions for clear lessons about the competition between bottom-up and top-down organizations. Go David, go!

“With his brother Charles, who is seventy-four, David Koch owns virtually all of Koch Industries, a conglomerate, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, whose annual revenues are estimated to be a hundred billion dollars. The company has grown spectacularly since their father, Fred, died, in 1967, and the brothers took charge. The Kochs operate oil refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and control some four thousand miles of pipeline. Koch Industries owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products. Forbes ranks it as the second-largest private company in the country, after Cargill, and its consistent profitability has made David and Charles Koch—who, years ago, bought out two other brothers—among the richest men in America. Their combined fortune of thirty-five billion dollars is exceeded only by those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

“The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation.”
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer

Peter Ferrara, American Spectator: More Impeachment…

Thanks Ted…

“‘I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

That is the oath of office taken by President Barack Obama, and every other President of the United States, as provided in Article II, Section I of the Constitution. The question I want to ask is can you “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” without “preserving, protecting, and defending” the United States?”

Spectator.org/archives/2010/08/25/violating-his-oath-of-office/print

Robert Goldberg, American Spectator: Palliative Care

Thanks againTed…

“Suddenly end of life care is back in vogue.

“Here’s the New York Times explaining why:

“In a study that sheds new light on the effects of end-of-life care, doctors have found that patients with terminal lung cancer who began receiving palliative care immediately upon diagnosis not only were happier, more mobile and in less pain as the end neared — but they also lived nearly three months longer.

“The findings, published online Wednesday by The New England Journal of Medicine, confirmed what palliative care specialists had long suspected. The study also, experts said, cast doubt on the decision to strike end-of-life provisions from the health care overhaul passed last year.

“‘It shows that palliative care is the opposite of all that rhetoric about ‘death panels,’’ said Dr. Diane E. Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and co-author of an editorial in the journal accompanying the study. ‘It’s not about killing Granny; it’s about keeping Granny alive as long as possible — with the best quality of life.’”

Spectator.org/archives/2010/08/25/death-panel-sidingl

Announcements at p. 3 and at http://www.deadcatsandclippings.com/?page_id=394

“…what liberals believe needs to be changed or discarded is precisely what conservatives are dedicated to preserving, reinvigorating, or defending against attack.” Norman Podhoretz,2009, 294

An Introduction….

Ted has a fine eye for good material and there is so much that it demands a five-days-per-week outlet. We’re giving it a try.

He’s quick, clever, and as stubborn as I am. He was a career airline pilot who flew Boeing 747s, 727s DC 8s and 10s over to Europe and Asia.  He was a volunteer lobbyist for the LEAA in Washington, DC for four years and worked for an organization called VOICE, which dealt with criminal justice issues.  He has written extensively on crime and politics for over twenty years and has been published frequently. He has agreed to supply articles for Tuesday and Thursday.

I suspect that he will be a fine complement to Bob Guzzardi, Chris Freind, and the family of mice who nose around and squeak about the interesting material they find. This mix of talent allows CATS to carry local political, current, and conservative, rather than Republican, gossip. (JB)

Michael Bennet, D-CO

“Regarding spending during his time in office he said, ‘We have managed to acquire $13 trillion of debt on our balance sheet’ and, ‘in my view we have nothing to show for it.’ Speaking of the debt, he said our debt almost equals the economy. Regarding the current job situation, Bennet said the situation has been dire for over a decade saying, ‘We have created no net new jobs in the United States since 1998’ which were the last two years of the Clinton administration. Pointing to a slide showing budget expenditures, he said that currently 65 percent of the budget was for social security, Medicaid and Medicare expenditures and that we could not grow our way out of debt.” (JB)

NationalReviewbattle10/244695/bennet-bombshell-trillions-debt-nothing-show-it-michael-sandoval

The Unemployed Unionize!

“You lost your job. You’re not alone. 31 million Americans face the same challenges. You want your job back. You want your life back. But you can’t do it alone. Neither can anyone else. You all need each other. That’s what UCubed is here to do: Help you and 31 million other unemployed Americans organize, work together and get back to work. Let UCubed help you connect. Form a cube, and multiply your political and economic power by 6. Then by 36. Eventually, by 31 million. Take Control.” (JB)

http://www.unionofunemployed.com/

UCubed Blasts Geithner

“UCubed, a group representing unemployed and underemployed workers, sharply criticized Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for his handling of the economy after the Labor Department last week announced that jobless claims had unexpectedly jumped to 500,000. 

“‘The pace of job losses is increasing, and Secretary Geithner doesn’t have a clue on how to end this grave recession,’ said Rick Sloan, the group’s acting executive director, in prepared remarks.” (JB)

TheHill.com/ 115459-unemployed-group-blasts-geithners-handling-of-economy

Thomas Sowell: Medical Care Facts and Fables 

“There is so much political spin, and so many numbers games being played, when it comes to medical care, that we have to go back to square one and the simplest common sense, in order to get some rational idea of what government-run medical care means. In particular, we need to examine the claim that the government can ‘bring down the cost of medical care.’” (TL)

http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell082410.php3

Connie Hair: BO thinks Muslim Call to Prayer One of the Prettiest Sounds on Earth 

A poll out Thursday from the Pew Research Center  shows nearly one in five Americans believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim. .. up from 11% in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. (TL) The “Muslim” notion is sometimes found to be as high as 24%! (JB)

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=38633&keywords=muslim+call+to

57% of Arabs opposed to GZ Mosque?

On Bill Bennett’s radio  show this morning Fouad Ajami cited surveys by liberal Saudi news media, surveys that found that 57% of Arabs oppose the Ground Zero Mosque because it is (1) confrontational and (2) unnecessary (JB)

Ajami’s thoughts on Iraq: http://www.hoover.org/news/daily-report/46131

Ajami’s bio: http://www.hoover.org/fellows/8881

Conn Carroll, 8/12/2010 – Morning Bell: The Dodd-Frank Bailout is Already Here

“On July 21, when President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, he promised: ‘There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period.’ How long will this Obama promise last? Well, The New York Times ^[2] reports today that  “the Obama administration on Wednesday pumped $3 billion into programs intended to stop the unemployed from losing their homes…”  (TL) http://blog.heritage.org/?s=dodd-frank+bill

Wayne Allen Root – Obama’s Agenda: Overwhelm the System

“Rahm Emanuel cynically said, ‘You never want a crisis to go to waste.’ It is now becoming clear that the crisis he was referring to is Barack Obama’s presidency.

“Obama is no fool. He is not incompetent. To the contrary, he is brilliant. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis and social chaos — thereby destroying capitalism and our country from within. (TL) ”http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/obama-s-agenda–overwhelm-the-system-95716764.html

Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner – Little-known fact: Obama’s failed stimulus program cost more than the Iraq war

“Expect to hear a lot about how much the Iraq war cost in the days ahead from Democrats worried about voter wrath against their unprecedented spending excesses.

“The meme is simple: The economy is in a shambles because of Bush’s economic policies and his war in Iraq. As American Thinker’s Randall Hoven points out, that’s the message being peddled by lefties as diverse as former Clinton political strategist James Carville, economist Joseph Stiglitz, and The Nation’s Washington editor, Christopher Hayes.” (TL)

WashingtonExaminer / Obamas-failed-stimulus-program-cost-more-than-the-Iraq-war-101302919.html

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