Sunday, October 12, 2014

Despite the Left's 'Tea Party Fear' Meme, Democrat Constituencies Most Scared of Ebola

If you look at the headlines at Memeorandum, you'd think the tea party was hunkering down in wilderness outbreak camps to guard against Ebola. Here's the headline at NYDN, for example, "Tea Party and fears of an Ebola outbreak go hand in hand."

But according to Pew Reports, it's traditional Democrat Party minority groups who're most likely to fear contracting Ebola. Here, "Blacks, Hispanics More Concerned about Exposure to Ebola."

And a summary at Big Government, "PEW: BLACKS, HISPANICS MORE WORRIED THAN WHITES ABOUT CONTRACTING EBOLA":
The poll, conducted Oct. 2-5, found that "nearly half of blacks (47%) and 39% of Hispanics say they are very or somewhat worried about being exposed to the Ebola virus," while "just 27% of whites are worried" about contracting Ebola.

In addition, "women (37%) are somewhat more concerned than men (27%) that they or someone in their family will be exposed to Ebola," and those with with lower levels of education are more worried about getting Ebola than college graduates.

Pew found that while 22% of college graduates are worried about getting Ebola, "34% of those with some college experience and 38% of those with no more than a high school diploma say they are worried."
It's not just fear of an "outbreak," as the NYDN piece suggests, but fear of personally contracting the disease that has Democrats most worried. So whenever you see depraved leftist spewing lies about tea party Ebola fear-mongering, tell them to go suck a discarded Liberian intravenous blood bag.

Republicans Seize on Terrorism as Campaign Issue, Debunking the Left's Narrative of Lies

The way the press criticizes any mention of the rash of beheadings, it serves only to infantilize the American electorate, and of course, protect the Obama White House. Censoring images of Americans being murdered by ISIS does nothing to protect the families. It does everything to protect the crumbling leftist narrative, which needs all the help it can get.

These are not "shocking" images and showing snippets of them in campaign ads is not disrespectful. The opposite Obama-Democrat meme is the big lie of the current campaign season.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Some Senate candidates seize on terrorism as campaign issue":


Far behind in the polls and in need of a bump, a Republican running for Senate in New Mexico recently turned to the image of the knife-wielding Islamic State militant who beheaded an American journalist, building a campaign advertisement that flashes on the horrific YouTube video.

The online spot, from the campaign of Allen Weh, a decorated Marine who served in Vietnam and later in Iraq, is perhaps the most brazen effort by Republicans to use the threat posed by the militants to gain traction with voters. But it is not the only one.

At a time when no single national issue is dominating midterm election campaigns, GOP candidates in several battleground states are seizing on public unease with President Obama's strategy for containing the terrorist group.

In Colorado and New Hampshire, Democratic senators are being badgered by TV ads showing gun-toting Islamic militants against a soundtrack of Obama's comments — including his remark in September that "we don't have a strategy" for the threat.

The attacks come amid voter unease with developments in the Middle East. During debates this week in North Carolina and Georgia, both key contests for control of the Senate, the U.S. response to the terrorists was the first question of the evening.

"The president has continued to fail and show a policy of peace through weakness," said Thom Tillis, the Republican speaker of the House in North Carolina who is trying to oust Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, during the debate in the military-heavy state. "This is a policy that needs to be on the ballot in November."
Also notice how the Times frames the issue as Republicans "struggling" and "grasping" for traction, when in fact public opinion polls have routinely found the public favoring more robust action to defeat the terrorists. Indeed, Obama's approval on national security has plunged to the low-30s in various surveys.

But hey, the leftist press will do anything to keep the flailing Democrat Party afloat. It's pretty pathetic.

Secret Transcripts Shed Light on J. Robert Oppenheimer's Communist Connections

At the New York Times, "Transcripts Kept Secret for 60 Years Bolster Defense of Oppenheimer’s Loyalty."

And after you finish that, see John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Spy? No. But a Communist Once? Yes."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Barack Obola photo Obola_zpsb5b6d560.jpg

Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

More at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Grim," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

My Bad! By Bad! Steve M. at No More Mister Is Not Bisexual — NTTAWWT!!

Well, I've got Steve M. trolling my comments section, telling me how "stupid" I am, for mistaking him with "Steven D" at Booman Tribune.

My bad! My bad! I wouldn't want to make stupid, dumb mistakes with the alphabet or anything, like this one, "Hey, 'No More Mister', It's 'Donald T. Sterling' Who Owns the #Clippers, LOL!"

So, to be absolutely clear (and he really wanted me to be absolutely clear, because, ahem, well tolerance), Steve M. is not bisexual, or homosexual, from what I gather --- not that there's anything wrong with that!!



No 'Troll Rights' on Twitter for Terrorist Jihadis

Heh, I guess the ISIS jihadis weren't pleased to find out they had no "troll rights" on Twitter.

At Breitbart, "TWITTER CEO: ISIS THREATENED TO ASSASSINATE ME FOR DELETING JIHADIST ACCOUNTS."

ISIS jihadists are just like leftist trolls, in that regard. They threaten to make your life miserable, if not kill you, if you deny they have a right to post at "public commenting systems." I mean really. Like Twitter and Blogger are "public commenting systems." But then, leftists like this smear conservatives as racist for standing up against jihad, so no surprise that Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is getting these death threats. Nothing --- nothing! --- is allowed to stand in the way of leftist-Islamist totalitarianism.

See also, "Imaginary ‘Rights’ You Don’t Have, You Sad and Disgusting Troll, Bill Schmalfeldt," and "The Definition of Cyberstalking."

RELATED: "Hi Donald Douglas: You Have a New Stalking Troll-Rights Follower Harasser @Repsac3 on Disqus."

Dow Erases Gains for the Year

Interesting stock market volatility this last week, perhaps a precursor of broader economic calamity? And we're barely out of the last recession, hmm.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Tumultuous Week Shatters Market Calm as Global Growth Fears Rattle Investors":
Global stocks tumbled on Friday, dragging the Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory for 2014 and shaking the confidence that many investors had clung to despite lackluster growth around the world.

A wave of selling in the final hour of trading on Friday left the Dow at 16544.10, down 115.15 points, or 0.7%. The blue-chip index fell 466 points, or 2.7%, for the week, its worst weekly performance since August.

The Dow rose or fell at least 1% on three separate days, a sign of the stomach-churning worries now spreading through global financial markets.

As big U.S. companies begin reporting third-quarter results, many investors fear that some firms will say weakening foreign markets and the strengthening U.S. dollar held down sales and could hurt future performance.

Another problem: Because stock-price valuations are high, many investors believe low interest rates and inflation, strong earnings and steady economic growth are needed to keep pushing stocks higher overall.

The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.45% for the week, while the small-stock Russell 2000 index slumped 1.4% on Friday. It is down 13% from its March high.

This week’s most troubling news came largely from Europe, where surprisingly soft economic reports again raised the specter of recession. Germany announced unexpected weakness in manufacturing and exports.

Meanwhile, falling oil and industrial-metals prices are fueling fresh worries that China, a buyer of vast quantities of raw materials, might be slowing down more than previously thought.

“It is the dollar and exposure to foreign economies that are weighing on the market here right now,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, which oversees $4.5 billion.

Still, the Dow is down only 4.3% from its record in September. While many money managers worry that the volatility isn’t over, few expect a bear market, meaning a decline of 20% or more. So far in 2014, the Dow has slipped 0.2%...
More.

RELATED: "‘A Regular, Run of the Mill, Old Fashioned Normal Stock Market’."

Wendy Davis Starts Slow Walk-Back of Despicable Wheelchair Attack on Greg Abbott — UPDATE! Correction Appended!!

Check it out at Twitchy, "‘Tone deafness personified': Wendy Davis campaign begins soft backpedal on wheelchair ad."

The Davis campaign will be out with an apology on Monday, if not sooner.

Meanwhile, the hardened dead-soul leftists are defending the hate.


More at Treacher's Twitter feed.

And don't miss the "Faithful Bisexual" No More Mister, "A HARSH AD, BUT A VALID POINT."

Seriously, I have no words or these sad facsimiles of human life. Man.

CORRECTION: I confused "Steven D." with "Steve M." A thousand pardons! See, "My Bad! By Bad! Steve M. at No More Mister Is Not Bisexual — NTTAWWT!!"

LOL Logic from Heisenburger King

This is great, from Doug Ross, "THE LOGIC ZONE: Where No Democrats Dare to Tread."

The Capitalist Cure for Terrorism

From Hernando de Soto, at the Wall Street Journal, "Military might alone won’t defeat Islamic State and its ilk. The U.S. needs to promote economic empowerment."

An interesting piece, including a powerful argument about economic freedom and personal autonomy. I just don't think de Soto makes the connection to terrorism all that well. Islamists aren't primarily driven by poverty. They're driven by religious ideology. Wealthy or poor, contemporary Islam is about jihad, not greater economic empowerment.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Bwahaha! Cassandra Rules Gets Much-Deserved Tear Gas to the Face!! — #Ferguson #ShawShooting

I wish I could have seen it in person, lol!

That would have made a killer Vine, this stupid, disgusting racist bitch screaming in pain, mwahahaha!!

Here: "Super flattering right? I can open my eyes now. He got me at point blank range. Dead in my eyes. #ShawShooting."

She's obviously a bleedin' idiot and rank skankball. Here's the brain-addled (c-word) minutes before scoring a tear-gas cream pie in the face, lol!



San Francisco Fleet Week

I love this --- at Moscow by the Bay, lol!

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Fleet Week to open in S.F. with a roar," and "Fleet Week roars back with commission for newest assault ship."

Plus, from CBS News Bay Area, "Parade of Ships Makes It Way Under Golden Gate Bridge For Fleet Week," and "Sailors Crowd San Francisco Streets for Fleet Week Festivities."

#ISIS Black Flag Planted in Kobani

Horrible.

At IBD, "Obama's Feckless 'Strategy' Risks Kobani Slaughter."



Huntington Beach Asbestos Scourge Closes Schools, Angers Community

Yay!

Huntington Beach school kids exposed to cancer-causing agents! Way to go public bureaucrats!

I'm being sarcastic, lest anyone take offense. This is a freakin' nightmare.

At LAT, "Asbestos scare: Huntington Beach elementary school closed indefinitely."



Ebola Screening at New York's JFK Airport

Folks were kidding about the U.S. becoming the Ebola nation, but not so much now.

At NYT, "As U.S. Steps Up Fight, J.F.K. Begins Screening Passengers for Ebola."



Latinos Get Their Own National Park to Befoul with Dirty Diapers — #SanGabrielMountains

See Five Feet of Fury, "Finally: Latinos get a National Park of their very own that they can throw garbage around in."

And following the link, from Steve Sailer:
You know, it’s not really the Evil White Man who is throwing his muchachos’ disposable diapers in the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, as this 2012 Los Angeles Times article “An Alpine Creek that Reeks” (and accompanying reader comments) makes clear.
Well, Obama calls this outdoor diaper dumpster an "awesome natural wonder."

Figures.

He's using his "pen and phone" to help out the Hispanic Huggies demographic. What a dirtbag loser.

VIDEO: Black Thug Shoots Newlywed Soldier and Kills His Pregnant Wife, No Word from Leftist RACE-BAITERS!

Same --- and despicable --- as it ever was.

Via Clash Daily.



How Political Correctness Endangers Women

Well, PC totalitarianism endangers everyone.

But check out Bethany Mandel, at the Federalist:
Evil exists, which is unfortunate, but a reality nonetheless. And to acknowledge as much doesn’t blame either the victim or society at large. When women are harmed, it is not because a “rape culture” is embedded in our society. It’s because of the existence of evil. Denying the existence of evil does not erase it, just as denying the race of those responsible does not erase racism. It only serves to protect evil, allowing it to strike again. And that denial sets a frightening and dangerous precedent for any reporting, especially that of violent crime.
That quote doesn't quite do, ahem, justice, so RTWT.

And remember, the left's political correctness perpetuates crime, and THAT is evil.

Postcard from Britain: Immigration Is Hot Issue as Elections Approach

Well, better late than never, I guess.

At the New York Times, "As Elections Approach, a Desire To Roll Up the Welcome Mat":

LONDON — John O’Keefe, a neuroscientist at University College in London, brought pride to Britain last week when he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his discovery, in rats, of the brain’s “GPS” system. But Dr. O’Keefe, American-born, had some unwelcome criticism for his adopted country.

Britain’s efforts to restrict immigration have become “a very, very large obstacle” to hiring the best scientists, he said. “We should be thinking hard about making Britain a more welcoming place.”

That is precisely the opposite of the current mood in Britain, seven months before an election, where immigration, the economy and the health service are the hottest issues.

Before the elections in 2010, David Cameron, now prime minister, had vowed to reduce net migration to less than 100,000 a year by 2015, including migrants from within the European Union, which has a fundamental principle that all citizens may live and work in any member country. Home Secretary Theresa May wants to reduce the figure to tens of thousands.

But there is a long and awkward way to go. While the government has set targets, it has little control over the variables. In the year ended March 2014, the government reports, 265,000 non-European Union citizens moved to Britain, ending a steady decline since the recent peak of 334,000 in 2011. Net immigration to Britain from the European Union rose to 130,000 in the year through March, up from 75,000 two years ago.

Total net immigration in the year through March was 243,000. That is back up to the 10-year average of nearly a quarter of a million people, said Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch U.K., which advocates restrictions. “If allowed to continue,” he said, the population will increase by 12 million — two more Scotlands — in 20 years. “That’s huge,” he said, arguing that three-quarters of British voters “want to see it reduced.”

So immigration is a fertile topic for the right and for the nationalist U.K. Independence Party, which is squeezing Mr. Cameron, and it is so sensitive with voters that even the opposition Labour Party has little to say about it.

Thursday’s two by-elections were a warning shot for both parties. UKIP won the seat in Clacton-on-Sea by a large margin, as expected, after the legislator Douglas Carswell defected from the Tories to join Nigel Farage and UKIP. That was historic, because Mr. Carswell became UKIP’s first elected member of Parliament. But what really shook the ground was the by-election in Heywood and Middleton, near Manchester, when the UKIP candidate came within 617 votes of defeating the heavily favored Labour candidate in the Labour Party’s heartland.

By-elections are famous for protest votes that don’t usually carry over to the general election. But UKIP, an essentially English nationalist party, is making headway against both main parties on the issues of sharply reducing immigration and quitting the European Union... 
More at that top link.

Funny, but sometimes the journalistic standard of promoting balance is completely idiotic. Clearly, British elites --- uniformly pro-immigration, apparently --- just don't get it. Britain is Balkanized, crime-ridden, and rotting at the core from the progressive depravity of political correctness. The rank-and-file masses of traditional Britain have woken up to the poxy elite destruction of their once great nation. Ostensibly "right-wing" parties are making record gains, not just in Britain. The left will denounce these trends as "xenophobia" and "racism," but the fact is that basic decency and common sense are making a comeback. Such old-fashioned values scare the crap out of vile progressives. The traditional push-back is destroying the very platform of social destruction that is the essence of radical progressivism.


The Left: Destroying and Terrorizing America One Five-Year-Old Child at a Time

Another reason why radical leftism is the scourge of modern existence.

From Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom, "School officials abuse 5 year old who drew something resembling a gun":
Bullying kids into believing there is no such thing as gender: Good Terrorizing kids about drawing guns or engaging in any fantasy play about weapons: Bad and needing psychiatric “help.”

Tar, feathers and a rail just doesn’t seem to enough to visit upon these child abusers.
Click through for the full report.

The Obamas Have Brought Nothing but Disease, Disgrace, and Deceit — And Then Some...

Going around on Twitter:

Obama Disease photo Bzrxn8nIMAExJLC_zps90b919e1.jpg

Alison Lundergan Grimes 'Disqualified Herself' by Refusing to Admit She Voted for Obama

Can't get away from Barack "Fart Face" Obama fast enough.

At Truth Revolt.



Bwahaha! Dems Can't Get Away from Obama: He's Like a Fart on an Elevator!

OMG this is freakin' hilarious --- and too true lol!!

Via People's Cube:



PREVIOUSLY: "Alison Lundergan Grimes Won't Say If She Voted for Obama."

Kay Hagan Missed Armed Services Committee Hearing to Attend Fundraiser (VIDEO)

Alas, she's not as vulnerable as I had hoped. But God willing she'll still be dumped out on her ass by election day.

At Free Beacon, "Hagan Confirms Attending NYC Fundraiser Over Islamic State Hearing."



Democratic Party's Turnout Problem

I noted the engagement gap the other day, which is going to hurt the idiot Dems, "Voter Engagement Lower Than in 2010 and 2006 Midterms."

And now here's this, at the Hill, "Turnout fears mount for Dems":
The Democratic Party's worst fears about the midterm election look to be coming true.

Polling in recent weeks suggests turnout on Election Day could be very low, even by the standards of recent midterms. That’s bad news for Democrats because core groups in the liberal base are more likely to stay home than are people in the demographic segments that lean Republican.

A Gallup poll last week found that voters are less engaged in this year's midterms than they were in 2010 and 2006. Only 33 percent of respondents said they were giving at least “some” thought to the upcoming midterms, compared to 46 percent in 2010 and 42 percent in 2006. Even more troubling for Democrats, Republicans held a 12-point advantage  when those paying “some” attention were broken down by party.

Historically, the core Democratic constituencies of young people, minorities and single women are more likely to skip voting in midterm elections. The current projections suggest that months of effort by the Democratic Party to engage those groups on issues such as the minimum wage and women's pay may have been in vain.



If the numbers hold, it could mean a rout for Democrats similar to the 2010 "shellacking" — President Obama’s description — that swept away their House majority.

"We cannot have 2010 turnout. If we have 2010 turnout among our key constituencies, we're going to have 2010 all over again. It's math," said Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher, who served as a pollster for President Obama's election campaigns.
More. (Via Memeorandum.)

Also from Martin "Not Dead" Longman, at the Washington Monthly, "If an Election Happens in the Forest and…" (Also via Memeorandum.)

America Is 'War on Women' Weary

From Kim Strassel, at WSJ:
Colorado Sen. Mark Udall has been called a lot of things, but the nickname highlighted during his Tuesday debate with Republican Cory Gardner deserves some meditation. “Mr. Udall,” said the female debate moderator, “your campaign has been so focused on women’s issues that you’ve been dubbed ‘Mark Uterus’ . . . Have you gone too far?”

Don’t tell Harry Reid , but the “war on women” theme is losing political altitude. Don’t tell the entire Democratic Party, in fact, which this year chose to elevate this attack—that Republicans are hostile to women—to the top of its political strategy. Mr. Reid spent most of the past year holding Senate show votes (on “equal” pay or the Violence Against Women Act) designed to give his candidates further political ammunition. Democrats by some estimates have already devoted as much as 60% of their $120 million in midterm TV advertising to the “war on women”—claiming Republican candidates are anti-birth-control, anti-women’s-health, anti-reproductive rights, anti-equal pay. Even Republicans at the height of anti-ObamaCare fervor were never so monomaniacal.

When a party throws $70 million at an issue, it will move the voter dial. Yet what’s remarkable is how little that dial is moving for Democrats compared with past elections. In Colorado, where Mr. Udall and his allies have beaten the “war on women” drum harder than any campaign, the most recent poll, from Quinnipiac, shows Mr. Gardner down by only three points among women. Colorado Republican Ken Buck, who failed in a Senate bid in 2010, lost women by 17 points.

New Fox News state polls show the same everywhere. Alaska Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan is losing women by five points. In Kentucky, GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell is down among women voters by two points—and he’s running against a Democratic woman. Republican Tom Cotton in Arkansas is outright tied among women against Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor.

Credit for these tight margins goes partly to the GOP, which after too many thrashings finally came into an election with a counter-strategy. The National Republican Senatorial Committee put a new premium on picking nominees talented enough to avoid saying stupid stuff. This was no small task, given the media’s obsessive focus in interviews and debates on social issues, and thus the endless potential for Republican error. Less than a month from Election Day, the GOP has yet to suffer a Todd Akin moment.

Republican candidates have also gone on offense. Mr. Gardner (as well as a half-dozen other GOP Senate candidates) flummoxed the left with his support for over-the-counter birth control. The position has helped inoculate him from Democratic assaults. Republicans still could—and should—do more to highlight Democratic extremism on social issues. Mr. Udall, for instance, recently refused to say he was opposed to sex-selective abortions, meaning he’s apparently not against terminating girl babies solely because they are girls. War on women?

Mr. Udall’s race offers another insight into the Democrats’ diminishing war-on-women returns. Women are open to a bit of fear-mongering about Republicans, but they are less sure about a Democrat who can’t talk about anything else...
Exactly. Look squirrel!

More at that top link.

Alison Lundergan Grimes Won't Say If She Voted for Obama

Via Legal Insurrection, "Alison Grimes: Stop asking me if I voted for Obama."



Abortion Barbie Goes There

See Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, "The worst campaign ad ever?":
It’s simply stunning in its sheer desperation. It’s so bad that I’m writing this post at nearly 11 pm in Rome to make sure it goes up on the site tonight. This isn’t just a bad campaign ad — it may very well be the worst, most cynical campaign ad ever. And the award goes to Wendy Davis, who’s about to get trounced by Greg Abbott, and this shows why:



RTWT.

And don't miss Twitchy, "‘Eff it, let’s go after the cripple’: You have to see Wendy Davis’ new attack ad [video]." Be sure to follow the links for additional posts.

A perfect representation of Democrat Party depravity. So, when will top party officials and office holders denounce Wendy Davis and her abject hatred for the disabled? I'm not holding my breath. This is a feature, not a bug.

Rosie Jones Returns to Zoo

Well, she's making the most of her modeling career, and good for her. The U.K.'s totalitarian feminists already succeeded in getting Nuts shut down. More power to Zoo.



PREVIOUSLY: "Rosie Jones' First-Ever Zoo 'Shoot."

News Generation Gap

A rhetorical question, via Nieman Lab:



Of course there's a news gap. I'm frankly surprised young people read news websites at all.

Here's the Left’s Secret Plan to Turn America Into Sweden

From James Pethokoukis, at AEI.

The Republican Party Remains the Natural Repository of the Values Espoused by Abraham Lincoln

From Richard Brookhiser, at the Wall Street Journal, "Freedom, Hard Work and the Party of Lincoln":
Every February, local Republican parties celebrate Lincoln’s birthday, complete with costumed re-enactors reciting the Gettysburg Address. It is one of the charming rituals of American politics, half playful, half earnest and all homemade.

Better than dressing up like Lincoln is thinking seriously about his ideas. Much of Lincoln’s career was consumed by issues that—thanks largely to him—are long gone: We will never again argue about slavery in Kansas. But his principles are forever relevant: his love of freedom; his belief in work as the means of self-fulfillment; his devotion to America’s founders and their great documents. The Republican Party, which he helped found and which backed him loyally through the Civil War, is the natural repository of his legacy.

Lincoln’s greatest achievement, along with preserving the Union, was extinguishing American slavery. He won the presidency in 1860 on a pledge to stop slavery from expanding into new territories; in January 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of rebels; the 13th Amendment, approved by Congress in January 1865 with his support, abolished slavery nationwide. As a result of his efforts four million bondmen and -women were freed.

But Lincoln believed in freedom as a universal right, “applicable,” as he put it in 1859, “to all men and all times.” Lincoln thought liberty and tyranny were locked in an age-old struggle. He repeatedly linked slavery to older forms of despotism. “A king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation,” he said in his 1858 debates with Stephen Douglas, was animated by “the same tyrannical principle” as “one race of men . . . enslaving another race.” But Lincoln’s comparison applies equally to the modern metastasized state.

Lincoln understood the necessary limits of democratic government: The people could become their own oppressors if they endorsed tyranny. If a “man governs himself that is self-government,” he said in 1854, “but when he governs himself, and also governs another man, that is more than self-government—that is despotism.”

Lincoln’s faith in freedom was bound up with his views on work. Lincoln rose from frontier subsistence farming to the professional middle class by his own efforts. As a teenager he resented his father, Thomas Lincoln, for hiring him out as an unpaid laborer, as if he were a horse or a plow. As a young adult he tried a variety of jobs to support himself, from blacksmithing to surveying, until he finally taught himself the law. Lawyers could make good money in early-19th-century America, but it was never easy. Twice a year Lincoln traveled Illinois’ 8th judicial circuit (approximately the size of Connecticut) to earn fees from criminal cases and small claims. He also argued for railroads, the big businesses of the day....

Lincoln claimed to be preserving the Founders’ handiwork. Their principles were his; his solutions fulfilled their aims. In the Gettysburg Address, he called, not for a birth of new freedom, but “a new birth of freedom”—the Founders’ freedom, cleansed by removing the stain of slavery. For Lincoln the road to America’s future always began in its past...
RTWT.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Brianna Wu Goes Into Hiding — #GamerGate

Remember from last month, "FEMINIST BULLIES TEARING THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY APART."

It's Milo Yiannopoulos, and I agree with his commentary, for the most part. And then I see stuff like this and don't know what to think.

Can't keep up with everything:



RELATED: FWIW, from Laurie Penney, "WHY WE’RE WINNING: SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS AND THE NEW CULTURE WAR."

And then back to Yiannopoulos, "HOW TO LOSE A PUBLIC RELATIONS BATTLE ON THE INTERNET."

Maybe Robert Stacy McCain can figure it out?!!

Bwahaha!! Jimmy Carter Relinquishes Title of Worst President Ever!

To Barack Hussein Obumbler, lol.



More at the Other McCain, "Obama’s Failed Presidency."

Charles Krauthammer: Obama's Sad Approval Numbers Drag Down the Democrats

From the one and only Krauthammer:



Fifty-Two Percent of Americans Say Republicans Will Win Control of the Senate

Yeah, well, it's not looking to good for the Ebola Democrats.

At Gallup, "Slim Majority in U.S. Expect Republicans to Win the Senate":
Partisans on both sides show signs of wishful thinking when assessing which party will win control of the U.S. House and Senate this fall. Nearly two-thirds of Democrats interviewed in the Sept. 25-30 survey say their own party will win the Senate -- not an unreasonable conjecture given that Democrats currently control the upper chamber and would need to lose a net of six seats to lose the majority. But the slight majority of Democrats, 51%, also believe their party will win in the House -- an outcome out of step with the Republican gains most pundits are expecting.

Likewise, despite the closeness of several races that Republicans must win if they are to gain control of the Senate, the vast majority of Republicans, 76%, are optimistic the Republicans will take the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, 87% of Republicans believe the Republican Party will control of the House, possibly reflecting their awareness that their party already has a firm hold on it.

The more objective predictions may be those made by political independents, which mirror the national averages. More than half of independents predict Republicans will win the Senate, and a solid majority -- 61% -- say Republicans will win the House.


Democrats Prepare for World Without Obama

Outstanding analysis, from Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Dems Prepare for World Without Obama":
A world without Obama is terra incognita for a Democratic Party that must prove it can win a victory without the aid of a boogeyman like George W. Bush or a hope-and-change messiah. Moreover, eight years of a largely failed presidency has altered the political landscape just as much as the changing demographics. Next month we will get the first indication whether Democrats are equipped to deal with that dilemma. If the polls that currently give the GOP an edge are any indication, they might not like the answer.
Heh, "hope-and-change messiah."

Ain't it the truth.

The Left Looks to Legalize Incest Between Consenting Adults

Heh, the next frontier in equality.

Shoot, let siblings get married. Why should your bigotry hinder other people's happiness? Indeed, hey, as long as it doesn't harm your marriage, what's to object?!!

At Truth Revolt, "HuffPo Gay Voices Asks 'Should Incest Between Consenting Adults Be Legalized?'"

RELATED: From David Harsanyi, at the Federalist, "I’m asking on what logical grounds can a person argue that gay marriage is okay but polygamy is not—or any other type of marriage?"

Malala Yousafzai Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Well, ahem, at least they picked someone who actually deserves it.

At the New York Times, "Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Children’s Rights Activists."



Thursday, October 9, 2014

Voter Engagement Lower Than in 2010 and 2006 Midterms

It's gonna hurt the Dems.

At Gallup:
Usually, Republicans vote at higher rates than Democrats, and this is evident in higher scores for Republicans than for Democrats on the voter engagement questions, including this year. In fact, the Republican advantages on each of the three turnout measures at this point approach what Gallup measured in the strong GOP year of 2010 rather than in other midterm election years. As a result, even if overall turnout is depressed compared with prior years, Republicans appear poised to turn out in greater numbers than Democrats.
But be sure to RTWT.

2014's going to be different than previous elections, because voters don't expect polarization and government gridlock to end.

Fine by me. As long as the GOP shuts down the Obama-Dems, I'll be happy for a couple more years. Besides, I doubt 2016 will be a good year for the Democrats --- especially in foreign policy --- so Republicans can ride the 2014 momentum into the presidential election year. As the idiot Markos Moulitsas likes to say, crush 'em.

ICYMI, Don't Forget William Voegeli, 'The Pity Party: A Mean-Spirited Diatribe Against Liberal Compassion'

It's a good book.

Pre-order at Amazon.

Pity Party photo photo21_zps18532eac.jpg

Hold Obama and the Democrats Accountable for the Terrorist Threat

From David Horowitz, at FrontPage Mag:
Since 1945 Republicans have not won the popular vote unless national security was the primary issue. But security issues were virtually absent from the 2008 and 2012 elections. This gave victories to Barack Obama, the most anti-military president in American history. Fortunately, the prospects for 2016 are looking marginally better because Republicans are now actually focusing on the fact that an anti-military presidency has ominous consequences for the 300 million Americans whose safety is the primary responsibility of the commander-in-chief.

That said, there is much to be desired in the Republican message, which is tepid, diffuse and easily missed. When Politico wrote a story about the recent change in Republican strategy it was all about the shift away from the tax-cutting emphasis of recent years, rather than towards the national security issue.

So let me describe the reality we are actually facing, which is a necessary preface to the way the Republican Party should be framing its strategy and should be emphasizing the dangers of having a Democratic president like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton – or for that matter a Democratic Congress – leading us in wartime.

I will leave out of this wartime equation the threats from Russia and China, which Obama and the Democrats have done so much to foster. I will focus only on the threat posed by Islamic jihadists, who at this moment can easily penetrate the borders that Obama and the Democrats have done so much to wreck. And carry with them chemical and biological weapons, and – if Iran builds the bombs which Obama the Democrats have made almost inevitable – nuclear weapons as well.

This is easily the greatest terrorist threat in our history, far greater than what transpired before and after 9/11. ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and other Islamic terrorist armies now control territory (and attendant resources) from Afghanistan through Iraq Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Somalia and other regions of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Why has this happened? Because Obama and the Democrats have waged a ten-year war against the war on terror, against American military strength, against an American presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, and against the very idea that Islamic forces have declared war on us. For ten years Democrats have been determined to treat terrorists as individual criminals, arrest them and try them in American courts where they will have all the protections of the American legal system that they are seeking to destroy. So hostile has Obama been to the very notion of a “War on Terror” that he has purged the very term from the official government vocabulary and replaced it with “overseas contingency operations” which describes exactly nothing.

To create the power vacuum which Islamic jihadists have filled, Obama had to defy the advice of his Secretary of Defense and his intelligence advisers. He did this in part by absenting himself from nearly half his daily intelligence briefings, and in part by saying no to absolutely crucial measures that his military staff proposed for countering the threat from ISIS and other terrorist groups. Obama saw to it that America would relinquish its military base in Iraq (a country that strategically borders on Afghanistan, Syria and Iran) or to keep the 20,000 American troops stationed there as his Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff urged him to do.

Obama hated the Iraq War so much that he was willing to betray all the American soldiers who gave their lives to keep Iraq out of the clutches of Iran and safe from the terrorist threat. If Obama had just listened to the advice of his military staff, there would be no ISIS today. Obama’s deliberate, calculated surrender of Iraq (and soon Afghanistan) and failure to stop Syria’s Assad when he crossed Obama’s red line is the greatest and gravest dereliction of duty in the history of the American presidency.

And make no mistake, Obama was not alone. For ten years the Democrats have been sabotaging the war on terror, beginning with their disgraceful scorched earth campaign against President Bush and the War in Iraq and continuing with their full-throated cry for the abandonment of Iraq after Bush had won the peace and contained the terrorist threat. Their support for Obama’s appeasement of Iran and Hamas, his support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and his diplomatic assault on Israel, America’s only true ally in the Middle East, is not only a national disgrace but the heart of the crisis that is looming on the international horizon.

If Republicans fail to articulate the sources of this crisis, and specifically to indict Obama, Hillary and the Democrats for their betrayal of America’s interests and their failure to protect the American people then Republicans electoral prospects will be dim, and with them, their country’s future.

Leftists Having Second Thoughts on 'Affirmative Consent' Laws

From KC Johnson, at Minding the Campus, "Liberals Begin to Doubt the New Anti-Rape Laws."

Blood Moon

At WSJ, "Photos: Total Eclipse of the MoonLunar Eclipse Brings ‘Blood Moon’ and Shadows to Asia, Americas."


Dodgers Failures Go Right to the Top

From Bill Plaschke, at the Los Angeles Times, "There's enough blame to go around for this Dodgers debacle":

For the 26th consecutive Dodgers season, the World Series won't be coming to town, and something needs to be said, and those words need to intially be about Walter and the ownership group, for this massive failure begins with them.

Guggenheim [Baseball Management] shamelessly hid the Dodgers from their fans this summer with a money grab from Time Warner Cable that prevented the team from being on television in 70% of Los Angeles households. Yet, for all the riches of that $8.35-billion contract, they refused to allow the trading of prospects for one simple arm that could have saved the Dodgers in October.

An effective starting pitcher would have prevented Kershaw from throwing Tuesday on three days' rest in a game in which he wearily gave up Matt Adams' three-run home run on his 102nd pitch.

An effective middle reliever would have allowed Manager Don Mattingly to relieve Kershaw not only before Adam's home run, but also before Matt Carpenter's three-run double sank Kershaw in the seventh inning of the series opener.

The team with the richest payroll in baseball history turned out to be a beautifully detailed Cadillac without any tires, a $240-million clunker that couldn't even finish the first October lap.

The failure continues with the baseball people, and that means General Manager Ned Colletti, who sat on a couch in the clubhouse early Friday evening and winced.

"It's always hard when you don't win,'' he said. "It tears me up.''

Colletti will take most of the heat here for failure to work within his bosses' philosophical constraints to somehow put together a group of decent relief pitchers. He is the one who rested the bullpen's future in the veteran arms of former All-Star closers Brian Wilson, Brandon League and Chris Perez, yet only two of the three even made the postseason roster, and neither Wilson nor League were trustworthy enough to use.

"It wasn't our bullpen that cost us this series," Colletti said. "Could they have been better? Sure, but when you have left-handed Cardinal hitters doing what they do, that's unreal.''
More.

Mia Farrow Waved a Greased Palm in Chevron Ecuador Case

At IBD:

Rackets: Celebrities have weighed in on lefty causes since Jane Fonda climbed atop the North Vietnamese gun. But new revelations about Mia Farrow dipping her palm in Ecuadoran oil — and cash — pretty well show what's going on.

It would probably be bearable to hear the vapid, views of Hollywood's finest if it were just a matter of stupid people issuing their opinions.

But when opinions become far-left activist causes and would not even be issued were it not for Third World dictatorship cash, then something else is going on.

Call it greased palms. The candidate for scrutiny who stands out, but isn't alone, is Mia Farrow, whose talent agency took $188,000 from the government of Ecuador, a supposedly neutral party in the dirtiest shakedown of a corporation ever attempted, the $9.5 billion lawsuit by activist NGOs against Chevron, over pollution in Ecuador it had nothing to do with.

Farrow took the cash and joined a celebrity cavalcade of supporters to dip her hands in what was probably Ecuadorean state company oil, waving them around and blaming Chevron for the spill on camera.

It was money well spent for the now-exposed plaintiffs, which forced Chevron to spend untold millions to defend itself against false charges that were subsequently thrown out by a U.S. judge as 100% fraudulent.

Farrow, on her Twitter feed, has insisted that she was just presenting her views and taking her speaking fees.

But she certainly didn't disclose the cash she took as performed her stunt, and it was only by Washington Free Beacon's digging and coverage by the New York Post this week that brought this act to light...
And don't miss Twitchy, "Mia Farrow under fire for role in defrauding Chevron of billions."

Dana Loesch Slams 'Douchebag' Critics of School Choice Decision

She's hilarious!



Barack Obola

Via Czar Zellum:


'If the election was held today, the Republicans would control the U.S. Senate...'

Here's Bret Baier, for Fox News, on new polling out from Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company:



More, "Fox News Polls: Senate battleground races trending GOP, Roberts up in Kansas."


Obama Ebola Bumper Stickers Appear Around Los Angeles

I haven't seen one of these yet, but you gotta love it.

At Truth Revolt.

Doe-Eyed Jen Psaki Can't Find Successes of Iraq Security Forces in Her Notes

From Pamela Geller, "VIDEO: Obama’s Foreign Policy Successes":
If there was ever a video that summed up Obama’s presidency in a minute or less, it’s this one.



Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Stock Market Volatility

At WSJ, from this morning, "U.S. Stocks Tumble on Global Growth Worries: Dow Industrials Post Biggest One-Day Decline Since End of July."

And then after today's closing bell, "U.S. Stocks Rally After Fed Minutes: FOMC Minutes Point to Caution on Interest Rates":
Financial markets gave investors a case of whiplash Wednesday, as stocks and bonds surged and the dollar fell on news that suggested the Federal Reserve may move more cautiously raising interest rates.

The rally, which took stocks to their biggest gains of the year on heavy trading, reversed a 273-point selloff Tuesday sparked by worries about an economic slowdown in Europe.

A day later, some of the same factors—the eurozone’s sluggish growth and the strong dollar—unexpectedly provided the fuel for a rally as the minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting in September showed more focus on slowing growth overseas and lessening inflation pressures.

In recent weeks, financial markets have seesawed on changing expectations for the timing of any interest-rate increase by the Fed. While most investors expect the Fed to hold off until June of next year, the chance that the central bank could move sooner has at times spooked investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 274.83 points, or 1.6%, to 16994.22, its largest point and percentage gain since December. The S&P 500 jumped 33.79 points, or 1.7%, to 1968.89, its strongest gain in nearly 12 months...
More.

Voter Anger, Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Portend Electoral Wave

It's an unusual environment this year. It's going to be an amazing election night, less than a month away now.

From Josh Kraushaar, at National Journal, "Bracing for a Political Wave":
This pervasive anti-Washington sentiment is a major reason why the Democrats' Senate majority is so tenuous. Incumbency is the party's bulwark, with strategists hoping that embattled senators will be able to utilize their well-defined brands to withstand a difficult environment. History would give them some comfort on that front. But 2014 is looking like it's no ordinary year. While Republican politicians bore the brunt of voter anger during the primaries, that same antipathy could cost Democrats in November.


VIDEO: Surveillance Camera Captures Mountain Lion on Top of Car in San Jose

I really don't want to bump into one of these big cats.

At KABC-TV Los Angeles, "SURVEILLANCE VIDEO CAPTURES MOUNTAIN LION ON SAN JOSE HOMEOWNER'S CAR."

Heteronormative Patriarchy is the Ultimate Slavery!

Another great piece, from Robert Stacy McCain, "What’s Up at Bryn Mawr?"



Kangaroo Fight!

Via CBS News This Morning:



Dallas Ebola Patient Thomas Duncan Has Died --- For Real This Time!

Or, for real at least, if we can trust ABC News:


PREVIOUSLY: "Report: Thomas Duncan Has Died; First U.S. Ebola Patient, Lied About Exposure to Disease - UPDATED!!"

MORE: All the big media outlets are reporting:



Majority of Americans See Obama as Failure

At the Hill, "Poll: Most see Obama as a failure."

And the piece cited IBD:



Obama's Desultory Bombing Mission Won't Defeat #ISIS

From Frederick Kagan and Kimberly Kagan, at the Los Angeles Times, "U.S. strategy against Islamic State is too much air, not enough boots":
Air operations in Iraq and Syria have not stopped the advance of Islamic State. Despite the bombing, the Al Qaeda splinter group has launched a series of offensives in Iraq, gaining new ground in Anbar Province, and it has continued its offensive in Syria.

The desultory bombing mission — far too limited to merit being called an air campaign — has no chance of enabling local allies to eliminate Islamic State sanctuaries. It may not even be enough to keep Islamic State, also known as ISIS, from expanding. After 50 days of obvious failure, it's time to consider an approach that might work: Get American special forces on the ground with the Sunni Arabs themselves. The only other alternative is to resign ourselves to living with an Al Qaeda state and army.

Islamic State seized the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 10 with a multipronged assault supported by military vehicles. The offensive continued over days, destroying two Iraqi army divisions and driving on Baghdad.

The Iranian military responded at once — reports indicate that Quds Force Commander Qassem Suleimani was in Baghdad with advisors on June 12. Iranian advisors and proxies began flowing into Iraq immediately. The U.S. took no action until Aug. 8, nearly two months later, dropping a small number of bombs aimed at opening a corridor to allow besieged Yazidis to escape from certain death on Mt. Sinjar.

The U.S. has hit about 334 mostly tactical targets in both Syria and Iraq in the intervening 50-odd days. To put that number in perspective, the 76-day air campaign that toppled the Taliban in 2001 dropped 17,500 munitions on Afghanistan. Those bombs directly aided the advance of thousands of Afghan fighters supported by U.S. special operators capable both of advising them and of identifying and designating targets to hit. There are no U.S. special operators on the ground in Iraq or Syria, no pre-planned or prepared advance of Iraqi security forces, and no allies on the ground in Syria. This is not an air campaign.

Islamic State is an adaptable, smart enemy, and its fighters are dispersed through population centers, with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 of them controlling an area the size of Maryland. Hitting a series of fixed targets such as bases and destroying small concentrations of vehicles will not defeat it. Rather, enabling the air campaign to do meaningful damage to the Islamic State army requires putting some U.S. troops into the Sunni Arab areas that Islamic State now holds. Special forces serving as forward air controllers can direct airstrikes to meaningful targets that are not observable by satellite and overflight...
Keep reading.

Remember, the Kagans have advocated for a ground deployment of at least 25,000 troops. See, "A Strategy to Defeat the Islamic State."


Giants Beat Nationals in Tense Game 4 of #NLDS

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Giants edge Nationals 3-2 to win series, advance to NLCS."

I'm going to have to root for the Giants now. They're the only California team still in the playoffs, lol.



Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Elsa Hosk, Lais Ribeiro and Lily Aldridge

In Vogue UK, via Victoria's Secret:
The 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show doesn’t head to London until this December, but British Vogue is already getting their Angel on. Acclaimed fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier shot Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Elsa Hosk, Lais Ribeiro and Lily Aldridge in a stunning mix of haute couture and Victoria's Secret's upcoming Holiday 2014 collection. It's all in the November issue, on newsstands now. Here’s a snippet from the behind-the-scenes video...

'Since trolls actually derive pleasure from the suffering of others, engaging with them at all can be counter-productive...'

From Roger Dooley, at Forbes, "Internet Trolls Really Are Psychos."

I should follow his advice about avoiding engagement, but with my stalking hate-troll Walter James Casper III, the lulz are irresistible:



Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Former Chief of Defence Staff General Lord Richards: ISIS Airstrikes Won't Be Enough

Via Telegraph UK:



Stephen Collins Dead — UPDATED: Story Turns Out to Be False

At Twitchy, "‘Baywatch’ star reports: ‘7th Heaven’ dad Stephen Collins has committed suicide."

Added:



More:



UPDATE: At CBS News:



And check Twitchy for updates as well.



George Will Disinvited from Scripps College Speaking Engagement

This is quite a story, at National Review, "Scripps College Disinvited George Will from Speaking Series Focused on Different Views for Having Different Views."

And from Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, "George Will speech at Scripps College canceled because of tolerance, or something":
This story begins almost four months ago, when Washington Post columnist George Will challenged the Obama administration’s attempts to use debunked data to push a narrative of an epidemic of sexual assaults on American college campuses. Will also criticized the expansion of the term “sexual assault” to a nearly meaningless definition, and the demand by the White House for colleges to use a minimal standard of evidence to “convict” the accused. For being one of the first to call foul on the Department of Education’s efforts, Will earned the ire of progressives and activists, and one newspaper stopped carrying his column when the controversy erupted over his opinion.

Since then, plenty of people have joined Will in questioning the actions, motives, and outcomes of the Obama administration’s insistence that a sexual assault epidemic has erupted and kangaroo campus courts are the remedy, including myself, and especially Ashe Schow at the Washington Examiner.  That emergence of a legitimate debate over what looks very much like a new McMartin Preschool-style witch hunt made little difference to Scripps College, which invited Will to deliver a speech — and then disinvited him...
More. Via Memeorandum.

Colleges really aren't places of diversity of thought. Perhaps they were at one time, but nowadays anyone who deviates from the hard-left ideological orthodoxy is not welcomed, and indeed will be demonized, excoriated, and boycotted.

The left is leading the closing of the American mind.

BONUS: Here's Will's offending column, at WaPo, from June, "Colleges become the victims of progressivism."

Sharyl Attkisson, Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington

Ms. Attkisson's book is out November 4th.

Pre-order at Amazon.



The Left's Religion of Unhappiness

From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, "The left doesn’t want to be happy; it wants you to be miserable."

Brenda Leyland Has Died

For whom the bell t(r)olls.

At London's Daily Mail, "Well-spoken middle-class woman is unmasked as online troll who now faces arrest after sending hate messages to parents of Madeleine McCann."

Also, "Internet troll who targeted McCanns found dead in hotel room days after fleeing home when she was revealed to be behind online campaign of vitriol," and "McCann troll 'sent thousands of hate tweets': Divorcee launched diatribes about Kate and Gerry's behaviour in aftermath of Madeleine's disappearance."

More at Independent UK, "Brenda Leyland dead: Madeleine McCann parents' 'troll' found dead after Sky News report."

Here's Sky News, "'Evil' Trolls In Hate Campaign Against McCanns."



More at BuzzFeed, "Read the Deleted Tweets Brenda Leyland Sent About the McCanns Before She Died."

From Guinea to Dallas: Tracing the Ebola Threat

At the Los Angeles Times:
If relatives of Marthalene Williams hadn't insisted that she had malaria, their Paynesville neighbor, Thomas Eric Duncan, might not have helped carry her to a taxi or accompanied them as they searched the capital for a hospital or clinic that would take her.

Four days later, on the afternoon of Sept. 19, Duncan arrived at Monrovia's airport to catch a flight to the United States, beginning with a connecting flight to Brussels. Like all travelers exiting the Ebola zone, Duncan's temperature was checked by a Liberian official who had been trained by CDC experts. Duncan's temperature was an unremarkable 97.3. He filled out a form crafted by the CDC and Liberian authorities to alert them to potential Ebola cases. It asks travelers whether they have had contact with people who might have Ebola.

It's not known whether Duncan suspected that Williams had Ebola, but health officials in Liberia say he did not disclose his encounter with her. He was waved onto the jet, and then spent several hours on a layover at the Brussels airport, a busy hub that last year handled more than 19 million passengers.

Duncan then flew out on United Flight 951 to Washington Dulles International Airport. He arrived about 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, then boarded United Flight 822, which landed in Dallas about 5:30 p.m.

From there, he got a ride in a private car to the northeast Dallas home of his girlfriend, a Liberian nursing-home worker named Louise Troh, the woman's daughter said.
RTWT.

From Hope and Change to Crash and Burn: The Death of the Obama Dream

From Matt Welch, at Reason, "From Lincoln to LBJ to Frank Underwood: Metaphors for the Obama presidency have gone from heroic to homicidal":
If you want to trace the downward trajectory of the dreams that liberals pinned on the enigmatic figure of Barack Obama, look no further than the presidential histories and political dramas through which they have filtered their understanding of his meteoric rise and drip-by-drip fall in popularity.

When the then-candidate for U.S. Senate burst on the national political stage at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he put his historical analogy of choice right there in the opening paragraph: "On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention," he said. "Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely."

Yes, Barack Obama was going to be the modern embodiment of Abraham Lincoln himself, fulfilling the long-delayed promise of America's racial reconciliation, in part by using his unusual-for-politics parentage as a springboard for uniting, not dividing. "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America," Obama said, in the speech's most celebrated passage. "There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America."

The address, written in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois (the same place where Obama would later announce his candidacy for the White House), was an instant sensation. "I have to tell you, [there's] a little chill in my legs right now," MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews said. "That is an amazing moment in history right there. I have seen the first black president."

The ensuing presidency, and the last six years of American political life, have been so desultory that it's almost hard to remember how ubiquitous the now-laughable Lincoln comparison once was...
Keep reading.

'The Most Sexist Republican Ad of the Year'

"And it's awesome!"

At Truth Revolt.



Monday, October 6, 2014

Islamic State Advances on Kobani

At Reuters, "Street fighting rages in Syrian town as Islamic State moves in."

And from Jeffrey Goldberg, at the Atlantic, "'A Terrible Slaughter Is Coming' - On the Turkish border, the world stands idly by as ISIS threatens a massacre in a Syrian town."



Israel Black Flag Protest Against High Court Infiltrator Ruling

At Arutz Sheva:

Residents of working class Tel Aviv expressed their anguish and anger Sunday following the High Court decision striking down the Infiltrator Law, by marching with black flags.

Organizer May Golan said that the residents are taking down the Israeli flag and flying the black flag in protest of the dictatorship of “bagatz” – the Hebrew acronym for the High Court for Justice.

A week after the High Court controversially shot down the so-called "Infiltrator Law", which sought to tackle the problem of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa residing in Israel, the Interior Ministry appears to be pushing back by announcing plans to initiate new legislation in its place.

Joe Biden Apologizes ... And Apologizes ... And ... Wait for It! Another Apology Is in the Tank!

Dang, it's like an epidemic with this idiot.

And Biden was supposed to provide foreign policy "gravitas" back in 2008. Gee, how's that working out?

At Business Insider, "Joe Biden Is Apologizing Left and Right After His Weekend Gaffe."

Also at CBS News, "Biden apologizes for bashing Arab allies," and "Biden apologizes for gaffe that angered Mideast allies."

Check back for more apologies tomorrow, and the day after, and ...

Angels' Window of World Series Opportunity May Be Closing

At LAT, "Angels may be losing their window to play in the World Series":

The Angels are an old team, Mike Trout notwithstanding. Their window to excel should extend through next season. The competition might be tougher next season.

"You always want to do the most you can when you have the most leverage," pitcher C.J. Wilson said.

"Texas had a down year. Oakland had a rough September. We had a really good chance to get what we got, which was home-field advantage, and we didn't do anything with it."

The Angels control second baseman Howie Kendrick, third baseman David Freese, catcher Chris Iannetta, and closer Huston Street through 2015, and shortstop Erick Aybar through 2016. By the time the 2016 season opens, all five of those players will be 32.

According to Baseball America, the Angels have traded four of their top six prospects among position players over the past year. The Angels are in win-now mode, and the trades brought back Street, Freese and relievers Fernando Salas and Joe Thatcher.

But, of those six prospects, the two that remain are C.J. Cron, a designated hitter, and second baseman Alex Yarbrough, whose suspect fielding might limit him to DH.

Free agency? That is the source of the Angels' greatest challenge, since owner Arte Moreno's decisions to spend $375 million on Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton stripped the team of the top draft choices necessary to rebuild the farm system and restricted the financial flexibility available to upgrade the major league roster.

On opening day 2016, Pujols will be 36, Hamilton 34, Wilson 35, Weaver 33. The Angels have all four under contract for 2016, for a total of $98 million.

Add another $40 million for Trout, Aybar and pitchers Garrett Richards and Joe Smith, and there's your core.

It is painfully apparent, then, that the Angels are likely to go as far as Trout, Pujols and Hamilton will take them.

Trout is the best player in baseball. Pujols is not close to that level anymore, but he can hit well enough to hold down the No. 3 spot in the batting order.

But what can the Angels expect from the enigmatic and oft-injured Hamilton?

"Who knows?" he said. "What do you think, I'm a fortune teller?"

Hamilton went hitless in the division series, homerless in his last 55 at-bats of the season. In his two seasons in Anaheim, he has hit .255 in 240 games, with a total of 31 home runs and 123 runs batted in.

"I wish I could tell you I was going to hit .330 with 130 [RBI] and 40 [homers] every year," he said.


The Coast Guard Told Him He Was Going to Have a Hard Time Pushing Through the Gulf Stream

The dude still had supplies of water and power bars, lol.

But the Coast Guard told the dude "you better come with us," heh.



CNN Reports Thomas Eric Duncan Receiving Experimental Ebola Drug Treatment

Actually, I don't see why officials were waiting so long to give him the experimental drugs. You'd think they were racist or something. Sheesh.

From Vaughan Sterling for CNN:



More: "Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Won't Discuss Thomas Eric Duncan's Treatment," and "Report: Thomas Duncan Has Died; First U.S. Ebola Patient, Lied About Exposure to Disease - UPDATED!!"

Alison Lundergan Grimes Lying About Support for Coal Industry

Of course she was caught.

Democrats are nothing but hypocritical liars.

At Free Beacon, "Grimes Staff Caught on Hidden Camera: She’s Lying About Support for Coal Industry":

U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes is lying about her support for the state’s coal industry according to Kentucky Democrats, including members of her campaign team, who were captured on a hidden camera video.

The video, produced by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, shows five employees of the Grimes campaign and local Democratic Party affiliates speculating that the Democratic challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is only professing her support for the industry out of political expediency.

“If we can get her elected do you think she is going to do the right thing and she’s gonna try to wipe out that coal industry and go for better resources?” asks an undercover videographer in one segment of the video.

“I absolutely think she is,” responds Fayette County Democratic Party operative Gina Bess.
Also at Progressives Today, "O’Keefe Strikes Again! Senate Campaign For Democrat Alison Grimes Admits She’s Lying to Get Elected!"

How Globalization Brings the Latest African Infectious Pandemic to Your Neighborhood

At the Boston Globe:



Royals Sweep Angels in ALDS

I should have more about this over the next couple of days, but for now, man, what a disappointment.

And that's to take nothing away from Kansas City. Those boys are on fire.