Get Ready to See Nazi Town Hall Protesters With Swastikas

Well, now that Nancy Pelosi smeared town hall protesters as Nazis carrying swastikas, we can expect to see a bunch of leftists infiltrate rallies with ... wait for it ... Nazi paraphernalia and swastikas. I guess it's happening already, according to Sam Stein, "Anti-Obama Protester Compares President To Nazi In Swastika Sign." (Via Memeorandum.) Stein notes that the "image was provided to the Huffington Post by a reader who is a Democrat." Whoa! I'm shocked. The protest was held last week, so who can say if that's the reader's friend posing for the photo?

Either way, we'll be seeing a few more of these images in no time.

Meanwhile, check out Michelle Malkin's post, "How to Dress Like an 'Authentic' Grass-Roots Activist."

Michelle links to Zombie's "Hall of Shame." Here's a few samples, all from San Francisco, California:

"Woman fully exercising her freedom of speech at the anti-war rally on September 24, 2005":

"Rioters burning Bush in effigy and the American flag following the post-election rally on November 3, 2004":

"A prediction of what the future holds, at the post-election rally on November 3, 2004":

The activist base of today's Democratic Party (scroll down that link ... "Bush-Hitler Comparison Endorsed By Minnesota Democrats").

And these folks have the nerve to call everyday town hall activists "Nazis" and "tea-bagging racist thugs."

Sonia Sotomayor Confirmed for Supreme Court

Kind of anticlimactic, but Judge Sotomayor's been confirmed. From the Los Angeles Times, "Senate Confirms Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court":

Sonia Sotomayor completed an unlikely and historic journey today, one that began with her birth in a Bronx, New York, housing project 55 years ago and culminated in her confirmation as the Supreme Court's 111th justice.

When she is sworn into office, Sotomayor will take her place as the high court's first Latino and just its third woman. She was approved by a 68-31 Senate vote after three days of debate. Nine Republicans crossed party lines to support her.

Sotomayor was nominated in May by President Obama to replace retiring Justice David H. Souter. A judge on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals for the last 11 years, Sotomayor worked her way through two Ivy League schools and was a Manhattan prosecutor and corporate lawyer before joining the federal bench.

But the pride felt by Latino groups over her historic nomination quickly gave way to a firestorm, as critics seized upon a speech Sotomayor gave to a group of students in 2001. Sotomayor suggested that her life experience as a Latina shaped her judging, and her remarks became known, almost notoriously, as the "wise Latina" speech.

Sotomayor's opponents charged that the speech and some of her decisions on the bench showed an inclination to use the law to favor disadvantaged minority groups. And they pointed to one case in particular -- in which Sotomayor's appellate court panel threw out a discrimination suit brought by white firefighters in New Haven, Conn. -- as evidence of their claim.

But the controversy never appeared to seriously threaten her nomination.

See also, The Hill, "Senate Confirms Sotomayor, First Hispanic Justice (via Memeorandum).

Whoa Nelly! More See Obama as Failure Than Bush at Six Months!

From Tom Bevan, "After 6 Months, More View Obama's Presidency as a 'Failure' Than Bush's":

A rather surprising finding from the newly released CNN poll. Question three on the national survey of 1,136 adults (which includes an oversample of African-Americans) asks, "Do you consider the first six months of the Obama administration to be a success or a failure?"

Thirty-seven percent (37%) said they believe the Obama administration is a "failure," while 51% consider it a "success" and 11% say it's still "too soon to tell."

An identical question was asked of the Bush administration in an August 2001 CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey. At the time, 56% said the Bush administration was a "success" while only 32% considered it a "failure."

Check Bevan's post for the links!

And check Memeorandum.

AARP Staffers Bail Out as Retired (Swastika-Bearing) Astroturfers Shut Down Town Hall Meeting!

Via Red State, "Behold Those Scary, Scary Swastika-Bearing Astroturfers." Also, Pat in Shreveport's got the report:

Watch this video from the AARP Town Hall on health care in Dallas, August 4, 2009. The AARP representatives did not want to hear from the members at all; in fact, once the members began to ask questions, the meeting was officially shut down. The members, however, continued without them. Stunning ...

These members were not violent or threatening; they had questions. Just questions. And concerns. They were not plants by some insurance company or right-wing extremist group. They are ordinary citizens.

Also, at AOSHQ, "Gray Mafia: Senior Mobsters Take on AARP Reps on "Listening" Tour, Who Quickly Get Tired of Listening and Cancel Meeting."

And Michelle Malkin, "Revolt Against AARP in Dallas: “Do You Work for Us or Do We Work for You?”

There'll be a huge thread for this on Memeorandum, but not yet, not yet ...

More Democratic Disinformation on ObamaCare: Jane Hamsher, MSNBC's David Shuster Tweak Outdated Poll to Claim '76 Percent Want Public Option'

Jane Hamsher and David Shuster teamed-up on MSNBC yesterday to spread lies about public support for ObamaCare:

At one point, Hamsher claims that "76 percent" of Americans want the public option; and Shuster, in the wrap up, asks what's up with the Democrats, "they can't push through a public option that most of these people want"?

Behold more Democratic healthcare lies. Hamsher's referencing the data cited at her Firedoglake post yesterday, "Democratic “Infighting,” Or Keeping Blue Dogs From Selling Out Health Care?" That entry cites a June NBC/Wall Street Journal survey that found 76 percent agreeing it was important that health care reform include a "choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance."

Not only is that finding badly outdated, you can't stretch it to argue that 76 percent of the country wants "a public plan to compete with the private insurance industry, because they hate them and don't trust their health care to them," as does Hamsher at her post.

It's not just sneaky, it's a lie. Hamsher's citing two-month old polling data

Subsequent subsequent surveys have rounded out the picture quite a bit, and conservative activism has taken a toll on the administration's popular support.

For example, see Gallup's report from mid-July, "More Disapprove Than Approve of Obama on Healthcare." Also, in July, Rasmussen reported, "Cost, Not Universal Coverage, is Top Health Care Concern for Voters."

And a CNN poll out yesterday found that "eight out of 10 people are satisfied with their own health care and nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance." Also, a 44 percent plurality agreed that Obama's "proposals would help other families in this country, but would not help you and your family." Note too, as today's Quinnipiac University National Poll indicates, 52 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the administration is handling health care reform.

The truth is that Democrats are desperate, and they'll do just about anything to try to win the battle over media-framing and public opinion.

Related: The Washington Post, "Senators Closer To Health Package: Bipartisan Talks On Reform Move Toward Center." See also, Pundit & Pundette, "Maybe They're Just Crazy?," and Ed Morrissey, "Say, Isn’t This Astroturfing?" (via Memeorandum).

Remember the Hooligans! Pathetic Democratic Fearmonging Gets More Pathetic; ObamaCare Fiasco Chews Up Administration's Political Capital

The banner headline at the Huffington Post screams, "TOWN HALL SHOWDOWNS: Unions Vow To Engage Protesters Head On Over Health Care!"

Clicking the link actually leads us to a rather tame article from Sam Stein, "Unions to Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls." You've got to love this part:

In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate. It also uses the specter of the infamous 2000 recount "Brooks Brothers" protest to rally its members to the administration's side.

"The principal battleground in the campaign will be town hall meetings and other gatherings with members of Congress in their home districts," reads the memo. "We want your help to organize major union participation to counter the right-wing "Tea-Party Patriots" who will try to disrupt those meetings, as they've been trying to do to meetings for the last month. ...

(Remember the hooligans - many of them Republican Congressional staff - who harassed Florida vote counters in 2000? We can't let that happen again!)."

We can't let that happen again?

What happened in Florida is obviously beside the point (although Dems didn't miss the chance to launch a national protest "explosion" at the time). No one is allegedly "harassing" vote counters today. Regular folks are coming out in large numbers to show their opposition to the Democratic takeover of private healthcare markets. Voters are steaming mad - yeah, voters, not a bunch of Nazis with swastikas.

Now the Democrats are totally freaking out! As CNN reports, President Obama's poll numbers of dropped 7 points over last 100 days. And today's Quinnipiac University National Poll finds Obama with just a 50 percent public approval rating, and 52 "disapprove of the way he is handling health care."

Click here for more updates!

See also, Gathering of Eagles NY, "SEIU Front Group Declares War On Tea Party Patriots."

Democrats Face Hostile Homecomings at District Meetings

Janet Hook fails the objectivity standard in her piece, at the Chicago Tribune, "Democrats face hostile homecomings from health care reform critics: Health care reform critics get tougher at district meetings."

Could it be that Congress is failing Americans and folks are really mad? No Janet a congressman in effigy doesn't mean protesters are KKK:

An effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil was hung outside his office on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin was shouted down by angry constituents. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had such a raucous experience with critics on Long Island that he is avoiding town hall meetings for more manageable settings.

The spark for the political firestorm surrounding these lawmakers has been President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the health care system. The debate has gotten especially ugly now that Congress has adjourned for a monthlong summer recess, and critics have mobilized in force.

The intensity of the opposition is a pointed reminder of how hard it will be for Democrats to sell voters on a broad reworking of the health care system, even though they hold commanding majorities in Congress.

At the same time that Democrats are trying to show the need for change, powerful special interests are deep into a campaign to portray the legislation, which is still being written, as a government takeover of health care that will disrupt voters' established relationships with doctors.

Democrats say the disruption of lawmakers' meetings does not reflect broad public opposition to their health care plans. Rather, they say, it is arising from an orchestrated effort by conservative groups, GOP leaders and "astroturf" organizations that claim to represent grass-roots voters but are backed by special interests.

This is hardly the first time that lawmakers' town hall meetings have been swamped with emotional outpourings during a congressional recess. In past years, lawmakers got an earful about cracking down on illegal Immigration and on former President George W. Bush's plan for overhauling Social Security.

Still, the rancor this year is noteworthy.

Translation: Protests against George W. Bush good; protests against Barack Hussein Obama bad.

I'm generally not the biggest media critic, mainly because we need the press as an institution. But articles like this do nothing to inform the public, and they only feed the anger and cynicism that's erupting at all of these town halls.

Hook's piece is also at the Los Angeles Times (via Memorandum).

See also, The Hill, "Parties cry foul over spate of homestate showdowns" (via Memeorandum).

Cornyn to Obama: Stop Compiling Political Enemies List

From U.S. Senator John Cornyn, "Sen. Cornyn Calls On White House To Immediately Stop Compiling Political Enemies List":

Dear President Obama,

I write to express my concern about a new White House program to monitor American citizens' speech opposing your health care policies, and to seek your assurances that this program is being carried out in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and America's tradition of free speech and public discourse.

Yesterday, in an official White House release entitled "Facts are Stubborn Things," the White House Director of New Media, Macon Phillips, asserted that there was "a lot of disinformation out there," and encouraged citizens to report "fishy" speech opposing your health care policies to the White House. Phillips specifically targeted private, unpublished, even casual speech, writing that "rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation." Phillips wrote "If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed "fishy" or otherwise inimical to the White House's political interests.

By requesting that citizens send "fishy" emails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House. You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program. As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.

I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House. I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program-and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action.

So I urge you to cease this program immediately. At the very least, I request that you detail to Congress and the public the protocols that your White House is following to purge the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in "fishy" speech. And I respectfully request an answer to the following:

• How do you intend to use the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in "fishy" speech?
• How do you intend to notify citizens who have been reported for "fishy" speech?
  
• What action do you intend to take against citizens who have been reported for engaging in "fishy" speech?
  
• Do your own past statements qualify as "disinformation"? For example, is it "disinformation" to note that in 2003 you said:"I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan"?

I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN

United States Senator

Also, see Michal Goldfarb, "Cornyn to Obama: Stop With the Enemies Lists" (via Memeorandum).

Image Credit: Atlas Shrugs.

The Definitive Case for How Freaking Scared the Left Is...

From Mary Katherine Ham, "Think Progress, MSNBC 'Manufacture' a Story With Putative Smoking Gun 'Mob' Memo":

When the "manufactured" outrage the Left is trying to demonize lines up so inconveniently with public polling, it's sometimes necessary to create evidence for the "manufactured" storyline.

Enter Think Progress, which unearthed this shocking, secret memo from the leader of a small grassroots conservative organization in Connecticut, which allegedly instructs members on "infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress."

Right Principles PAC was formed by Bob MacGuffie and four friends in 2008, and has taken in a whopping $5,017 and disbursed $1,777, according to its FEC filing.

"We're just trying to shake this state up and make a difference up here," MacGuffie told me during a telephone interview. He's surprised at his elevation to national rabble-rouser by the Left.

Right Principles has a Facebook group with 23 members and a Twitter account with five followers. MacGuffie describes himself as an "opponent of leftist thinking in America," and told me he's "never pulled a lever" for a Republican or Democrat on a federal level. Yet this Connecticut libertarian's influence over a national, orchestrated Republican health-care push-back is strong, indeed, if you listen to liberal pundits and the Democratic National Committee, who have crafted a nefarious web out of refutable evidence.

More at the link (via Memeorandum).

Also from Think Progress (some leftist fearmongering), "Freshman Democratic Lawmaker ‘Physically Assaulted at a Local Event’ by Activists."

Problem though ... There's no identifying information at Think Progress' key link. Daily Kos picks up the hoax, here. The diarist also can't come up with anything more than some obscure blog for "evidence." See, "Health Care Reform - Organized Mayhem at Town Hall Meetings."

And note this brilliance at This Week With Barack Obama:

This is riot antics given to you by the K Street lobbyists, who are feeding on a frenzy of a very small portion of the population

What has to happen next? Gun shots fired? Or someone seriously injured? GOP you down for these thug tactics? Again, no answer because they are leaderless.

Ah, wouldn't those leaders be the K Street lobbyists? Don't you need some kind of leadership to "manufacture" these events? Gee, Dems, get frightened much?

See also, John Fund, "When in Doubt, Attack Your Critics: ObamaCare Supporters Attack Opponents as “Angry Mobs of Rabid Right-Wing Extremists.”

The public doesn't seem all that freaked out:

Contrary to charges from Democrats that the recent spate of contentions [at] congressional town hall meetings are the result of “Astroturf” and “manufactured anger,” a new CNN poll finds a huge majority of Americans would likely attend such a meeting on the issue of health reform if one was held in their community.

Related: I watched this ABC broadcast with Charles Gibson last night, noted by Newsbusters: "ABC: Town Hall Wrath at ObamaCare 'Appears to Be Orchestrated'."

Added: From MyBarackObama.com, "Alhambra (Congressman Schiff Townhall) - On Healthcare Reform (Health Care Organizing Event)":

As many of you may know, insurance company money is bankrolling the busing in of “tea-bagging” right-wingers who do not live in our district in order to disrupt this town hall. Their goal is to create the impression for the media that this issue of healthcare reform (which includes at least a public government option for health insurance) is divisive and not supported by the majority of our district’s constituents. This is being done nationwide by the Republican Party and their partners, the Insurance Comanies lobby and Big Pharma.

We need to show up to counter this with our healthcare stories – real stories of human suffering that will shame these right-wing extremists. We also need to bring numbers so that there is no way the media can ignore where our district stands; we support healthcare reform based on President Barak Obama’s promises during his campaign.

This is one of my group's local events. The Dems better put up a big turnout, because the right is REALLY gearing up for this one. See, "Rep. Schiff presents: A Health Care Townhall!"

*********

UPDATE! Now it's about "death threats." See Talking Points Memo, "Dem Congressman's Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill."

Problem ... The article is sourced to "communications director LuAnn Canipe, in an interview with TPM." But checking the website for Representative Miller indicates no special announcements and the piece says the matter has been turned over to the "Capitol Police" in D.C. But a Google search turns up no corroborating reports, except for other progressive blogs ejaculating over another straw with which to smear conservatives.

Added: From Blue Crab Boulevard:

I’m calling Bull sh__ on this claim by a Democrat from North Carolina. Brad Miller from North Carolina is making media claims that he is canceling all of his town hall meetings - which he had none scheduled - because of supposed death threats ....

First of all - he had no town hall meetings scheduled - so what, exactly, is he canceling? Let’s face it, Propaganda Points Memo is not exactly a trustworthy source for anything resembling truth, but in this case, the claim is so egregious that it begs for confirmation.

Either produce a police report or stuff your report. This event, according to the report, was reported to the Capitol Police. Produce the report.

Exactly!

Dems Pledge to Continue ObamaCare Town Halls

From the Washington Post, "Democrats Say Angry Protesters Won't Derail Health-Care Town Halls":

President Obama and top Democrats on Wednesday vowed to push back against angry critics of their health-care overhaul, who have threatened to hijack the debate by purposefully disrupting town halls and other public events convened by Democratic lawmakers this week.

The leader of House Republicans responded by saying that "Democrats are in denial" in dismissing the objections as a fringe movement, "instead of acknowledging the widespread anger millions of Americans are feeling this summer." Conservative groups opposed to the health-care plan have asked their supporters to flood public gatherings featuring members of Congress. From Pennsylvania to Texas to Wisconsin, Democrats have been confronted in recent days by sometimes belligerent attacks against Obama's health-care plan. In one incident, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, an effigy of freshman Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr. (D-Md.) was hanged from a noose outside his district office.

The increasingly vocal opposition provoked Democrats to respond Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee released a Web advertisement that alleges, "Desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs" to "destroy President Obama and stop the change Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November."

More at the link.

See also, Hot Air, "New DNC ad: Mobs of right-wing lunatics want to feast on your flesh."

Bill O'Reilly Goes After Jesse Griffin

Here's the video from last night's O'Reilly Factor:

There's a couple on interesting points on this. For one, O'Reilly doesn't mention any of the legwork done by conservative bloggers to dig dirt on "Gryphen." Robert Stacy McCain and Dan Riehl worked all weekend getting statements from the Palin camp and on digging out Jesse Griffin's identity. Some of that stuff was exclusive, but no credits from O'Reilly?

Secondly, though, is "Gryphen" himself. The guy apparently has tremendous support on the Palin-hating left, and it's clear that the guy's whacked views on family and morality are fully central to today's progressive ideology. For example:

You know the reason that many people enjoy adult movies is that it is sexy to watch people making love ... I think that this trend toward real people having real sex is definitely the way to go. I always had a little guilt watching an adult movie and wondering if the female performer was a drug addict, or victim of molestation, just prostituting herself to make a buck. I am not Jewish, so guilt and sex don't really go together for me. But when you see a video of an amateur couple having sex you can tell that they are simply doing it for the sheer excitement of sharing their passion with a bunch of middle aged pervs who are going to wank off to their sexual exploits. Well great here comes that guilt again.

And is that a smack of anti-Semitism in there? That'd be pretty standard for the left, in any case. Guilt's not confined to Judaism.

Check Robert Stacy McCain for more.

Video Hat Tip: Saber Point.

Krauthammer on North Korea's Release of U.S. Journalists: 'It Was a Hostage Ransom. No Question at All'

The video and transcript aren't up yet for last's night Fox News Special Report. For now, check Fox's story, "Pardoned U.S. Journalists Return Home From North Korea, Reunite With Families."

Charles Krauthammer's comments are below the related videos:

And Krauthammer comments are posted at National Review (via Memeorandum):

Well, it's the return of hostages in exchange for stuff. And we will learn about that stuff. It's clear that this was wired in advance.

There probably was an apology [offered by President Clinton in Pyongyang]. After all, the secretary of state, the president's wife, had said openly, as we saw earlier, that we were sorry about the incident, and we were asking for amnesty, which was implying the legitimacy of the arrest and the trial. So we have already issued an apology.

Secondly, it is obvious that he was an envoy of the Obama administration, despite our denials. This is the one time in history in which the official news station of the North Koreans told the truth, but it does happen once every 50 years.

But thirdly, there was obviously a quid pro quo. The first of it we saw because we had Kim Jong-Il, who has had a stroke- - he's been wobbly and unsteady, and you can understand in a dictatorship like his how that begins the rumors of succession — so by standing up in the photos that we just saw, obviously engaged with Clinton, he looks like he is back in charge. That helps him personally.

Secondly, by getting a very high level envoy — you can't get higher level than a former president of the United States — it does help the North Koreans in their legitimacy.

And it's a demonstration of direct negotiations with the United States, which is what Pyongyang has always demanded. So...it got a lot.

And it probably has gotten stuff that we haven't even heard about and we may never hear about — aid in food and oil. All of that stuff will happen quietly in the future.

But it was a hostage ransom. No question at all.

I think so, and I don't think the U.S. had much choice on this one. North Korea took advantage where they could, mercilessly, and once again prolonged the regime's legitimacy and its quest for nuclear status.

Up Next: Barbara Boxer 'Joker' Posters?

I watched Hardball last night (transcript here). With all due respect, Barbara Boxer looks like she just finished posing for her own 'Joker' cartoon:

Ed Morrissey's got the story, "Boxer: Protesters Too Well Dressed to Be Sincere":

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) appeared on Hardball last night in support of the Left’s attempt to discredit the people showing up to townhalls in protest of ObamaCare. Boxer says she can tell that they’re fakes, because they’re too well dressed. How does she know that this is a problem? Because well-dressed people apparently told her to get the hell out of Florida in the Bush-Gore recount, too ...

More at the link.

By now Boxer's an embarrassment to the Senate's Democratic caucus. She's been stripped of a leading role on climate change legislation, and her recent gaffe on race relations is perfectly indicative of the left's double standards on racial sensitivity.

The good news is that she's up for reelection next year and looking deeply vulnerable in a head-to-head match up against Carly Fiorina. See Rasmussen Reports, "Election 2010: California Senate: California Senate: Boxer 45%, Fiorina 41%."

More at Memeorandum. See also Pat in Shreveport, "Your Dress Code for Town Hall Protests."

P.S. Could be a good idea for No Sheeples.

Obama 'Joker' Poster Goes National

From Right Wing News, "Joker Obama Flyers Show Up At George Washington University + Joker Obama Merchandise Already?":

Supposedly, prior to yesterday, the Joker Obama posters had only shown up in LA and Atlanta. Well, now a few hundred have shown up at George Washington University. Here are a few pics I was emailed yesterday. Unfortunately, they're a touch on the dark side. No flash, maybe?

Well, Obama's on the "dark side," so maybe that's fitting.

More at the link.

Two-Face: Obama Will Raise Taxes on Middle Class

President Obama is looking more like a supervillain with the latest buzz that the administration's looking to raise taxes on those making less that $250,000 annually.

Liberty Pundit covered the story on Monday, "Told You So: Obama Will Eventually Raise Taxes On Middle Class."

James Pethokoukis is here, "Middle-Class Tax Hike in Obama's Future."

But check out Byron York, "You Can bet On It: Obama Will Raise Your Taxes":

Economists left and right have long argued that there is no way Obama can pay for a national health care makeover and a host of other expensive initiatives without breaking his campaign pledge not to raise taxes for anyone making less than $250,000. The wealthy are already paying a grossly disproportionate percentage of federal income taxes, and increasing taxes on them won't raise enough money to meet Obama's needs.

That's why Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hemmed and hawed Sunday when ABC's George Stephanopoulos pressed him on the prospect of higher taxes. "Well, we're going to have to look at -- we're going to have to do what's necessary," Geithner answered.

During the presidential campaign, candidate Obama was absolutely adamant about taxes. "If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime," Obama said at a September 2008 rally. "In fact, I offer three times the tax relief for middle-class families as Senator McCain does, because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class."

Not long after Obama made those remarks, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the Toledo, Ohio, man better known as Joe the Plumber, made headlines with a single question to the candidate: "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?"

Looking Wurzelbacher in the eye, Obama carefully explained that he wanted to cut most people's taxes, but that if the plumbing company Wurzelbacher wanted to buy generated more than $250,000, then yes, his taxes would go up. "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," Obama said.

Wurzelbacher's skepticism touched a nerve among Republicans and set off a wave of derision among Democrats. But in all the arguing that followed, many observers missed the true meaning of his point.

Republican voters weren't concerned about Obama's tax pledge because they themselves made more than $250,000 a year. The vast majority of them didn't. And they weren't concerned because they believed they would soon make more than $250,000 a year. They were concerned because they simply did not believe Obama's promise. They knew what he was planning, and they knew it couldn't be paid for just by raising taxes on the rich. Sooner or later, they sensed, Obama would be coming after them.

And now, less than a year later, the time has nearly come.

See also, Fox News, " 'Not One Single Dime'? Will Obama Break His Word on Raising Taxes on Middle Class?"

Cartoon Credit: William Warren at Americans for Limited Government.

'Gryphen' Scandal Highlights Left's Moral Depravity

The Politico's got a brief report, "Palin Calls Divorce Report ‘Made Up’" (via Memeorandum):

But check Robert Stacy McCain, "THE GRYPHEN FILES: When You Catch A Liar Lying":

... 'Gryphen' had declared himself an atheist. He is, in fact, his own god. Let him save himself from the consequences of his own freely chosen actions ...

See also, "Barack Obama’s Alaska Mafia is on the Run and Angry the Spotlight is on Them." More at Memeorandum.

Screen-Cap Credit: Another Black Conservative.

This is What Mob Rule Looks Like...

Recall the leftist thugs attacking Jim Gilchrist at Columbia University? Look again:

See also, "Columbia, Students Attack Minuteman Founder: Students Stormed the Stage at Columbia."

Lots more videos of the intolerant left, now whining about "mob rule, at Michelle Malkin's, "This is What Mob Rule Looks Like."

Devastating! Just 3 in 10 Think President's Health Care Proposals Will Help Their Families'; 8 in 10 'Satisfied With Their Own Health Care'!

There's a generation divide found in the new CNN poll on ObamaCare, but you've got to love this part:

The poll indicates that only three in 10 of all Americans think the president's health care proposals will help their families. Another 44 percent feel they won't benefit but that other families will be helped by the president's plans, and one in five say no one will be helped.

"Less than a quarter of Americans with private health insurance think that Obama's proposals would help them personally. Most people on Medicare and Medicaid also don't think that the Obama plan will help them," says Holland.

The survey suggests that around seven out of 10 Americans think that major structural changes are necessary to reduce health care costs or provide insurance coverage to all Americans. At the same time, more than eight out of 10 people are satisfied with their own health care and nearly three out of four are happy with their own insurance.

Read the whole thing, here.

Creep-factor: 40 percent said government bureaucrats should decide "which people get certain treatments and which treatments are too expensive or ineffective ..."

God, that's awful ... so our work's not done!

And don't miss this, "Little Gems From the Health Care Bill."

The Real Tragedy in Nigeria's Violence

Nigeria's my favorite case in the comparative politics of the developing world. I thought I'd share this piece with readers, from Jean Herskovits at Foreign Policy, "The Real Tragedy in Nigeria's Violence":

Nigeria's latest spate of violence -- which began with attacks on police stations in four northern states -- is not what it seems. Superficially, the story looks similar to (though it was not connected with) outbreaks of Islamist fanaticism elsewhere in the world: An Islamist sect run amok, threatening a town's security, demanding an end to Western institutions, and seeking to impose a strict religious code. But instead, the clashes are a northern Nigerian version of what is happening in another (mostly Christian) region of the country, the Niger Delta. Both are violent reactions to the flagrant lack of concern on the part of those who govern for the welfare of the governed.

Ten years of supposed democracy have yielded mounting poverty and deprivation of every kind in Nigeria. Young people, undereducated by a collapsed educational system, may "graduate," but only into joblessness. Lives decline, frustration grows, and angry young men are too easily persuaded to pick up readily accessible guns in protest when something sparks their rage. Meanwhile, those in power at all levels ignore the business of governing and instead enrich themselves. Law and order deteriorate. The Nigerian police, which are federal, are called on, but they have grievances of their own. Ill-trained, ill-paid, and housed in squalid barracks, they are feared for their indiscriminate use of force. The military, though more professional, is not prepared for dealing with unrest -- and unrest has proliferated more and more.

Of course, this most recent eruption -- which left 700 dead, more wounded, and thousands displaced -- had its own peculiarities. Not all uprisings in diverse Nigeria are the same, though usually they are predictable. This time, the principal player was an Islamist sect based in Maiduguri in Borno state and led by 39-year old Mohammed Yusuf. Its name, Boko Haram, translates more or less as "Opposition to Western Education."

Even established leaders of Islam in the north, who condemn Yusuf's preaching, are aware of how government has failed Nigeria's young. What has Western education done for them lately? For that matter, what have other Nigerian institutions, all easily seen as Western-inspired, done for them? Boko Haram was demanding something its members believed would be better.

The attacks on police stations last week were triggered by different events in different states. In Maiduguri, just weeks before the first attack, the police had opened fire on a funeral procession of Yusuf's apparently unarmed young followers. People in Maiduguri were expecting retaliation, and Yusuf himself had declared that if he were arrested, his followers would fight back.

The outbreak of violence, then, should not have surprised the security services; certainly it did not surprise the people of Maiduguri or anyone else in Nigeria. After clashes in nearby Bauchi state a week earlier, Yusuf was widely reported as vowing to avenge police killings of his followers there. Nonetheless, those in charge of security were clearly unprepared. The police were overwhelmed, and the Army, once deployed, called in 1,000 more troops as reinforcements. The intelligence system was aware of Boko Haram and since 2007 had been advocating measures to stop its growth. The government simply ignored the advice.

More at the link, with pictures (here).

Dems Won't Regain Control of Health Care Message

From Amy Walter, "Health Care Battle Won't Be Won Over Recess: Democrats Are Unlikely To Regain Control 0f the Message War Without a Specific Bill":

Much has been made about August being a "make or break" month for the health care debate. At this point, though, Republicans have already won the messaging war - never mind the fist bumps House Democrats gave each other last week for passing a bill out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Do Dems really have a chance to rewrite the debate over the dog days of summer?

The GOP didn't change Americans from health care reform advocates to detractors overnight. By tapping into the "government-run health care" vein, they hit a long-held soft spot for many voters, namely their inherent distrust of Washington-run programs. From 1992 until 2006, CNN/USA Today/Gallup asked the question "How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right?" Except in the period immediately following the 9/11 attacks, a majority of voters have said that they trust the government only "some of the time." That number was as large as 75 percent in 1993.

As we've known for a while now, the battle for health reform isn't going to be decided by winning over partisans; they've already taken sides. In the latest Diageo/Hotline poll, just 30 percent of Republicans said they approved of "Congress and the president enacting a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system." Almost all Democrats (83 percent) approved. Independents, meanwhile, were almost evenly divided with slightly more approving (49 percent) than disapproving (43 percent).

I got some insight into how those independents may be thinking at a focus group in Towson, Md., hosted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. All 12 participants were self-identified independents, with just over half (seven) having voted for Barack Obama.

Once the conversation turned to health care, the overwhelming message was pretty simple: slow down. One participant worried that Congress couldn't possibly complete comprehensive health care reform in just six months. Another said it "can't be done overnight" and that doing something "too fast" could make things worse. For independents, then, the issue seems to be less about specific elements of a health care plan - public option versus a co-op - than a fear that Congress has created an artificial timetable that is causing them to rush through what should be a thought-out, balanced plan. Speed, in Democrats' case, is not their friend.

More at the link.

Yeah, and I'm sure those "self-identified independents" were actually "plants," surreptitiously smuggled into the focus-group by the cabal of healthcare lobbying agents that have taken over the right's grassroots protests!

More of that at Huffington Post, "Durbin, Schumer: Town Hall Protesters Are “Birthers” “Tea Baggers,” And “Fringe”." See also, Campaign for America's Future, "Birthers = Health Care Deniers." (Via Memeorandum.)

Things are getting pretty extreme, alright - on the left!

Video Hat Tip: Fousesquawk.

Dems Get a Clue That 'Astroturfing' Label Isn't Enough

Taylor Marsh is really at pains to hang on to the meme that the anti-ObamaCare protesters are mob hooligans. But she still has to admit, even between fluff about how the media will only show the town hall shout-downs, that the outrage is grassroots and organic:

The thing that’s alarming is that when I analyze this down I come to the uncomfortable conclusion that it really doesn’t matter whether the right has well financed, well organized mobs, including insurance shills, showing up for Democratic town halls. It’s still a whole lot of angry partisans who believe what they’re shouting getting the attention, while Democrats look positively lame when responding.

Marsh runs back to the safety of the "mob" label after that, but it's clear she knows that you simply can't manufacture the genuine anger we've been seeing in recent weeks. Also, Allahpundit shares this video of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs arguing lamely that that's a right-wing command center directing the anger:

When you see Gibbs hesitating his answer, and then going through the motions about how there's a single entity "manufacturing" these protests, it obvious that the Democrats are really in pain and struggling with the realization that their jig is up.

I've participated in four tea party events directly now, and I've written about each of them (listed chronologically):

* "Orange County Tax Day Tea Party."

* "Pasadena "May Day! May Day!" Anti-Socialism Rally."

* "Nationwide Protests Against Obamacare! Democrats Harrass Tea Partyers as Healthcare Monstrosity Stalls in Congress."

* "'Gravediggers for ObamaCare': Dozens Protest Democrat Loretta Sanchez at O.C.'s Balboa Bay Club."

I've also written two essays at Pajamas Media:

* "Suburban Warriors Rally at Orange County Tea Party."

* "ObamaCare and the Tea Party Effect."

There's really only one time I can recall any real connection to a centralized tea party bureaucracy - and that was a conference call, one week after the April 15th nationwide rallies, with some of the Freedom Works-sponsored conservative groups. I rarely hear about folks like that now, and in fact internal strife drove most of the original tea party organizers apart. It's true, of course, that Fox News has been a huge cheerleader for the rallies, with many of the on-air personalities directly involved. Chalk it up to the new post-objective media model. As Allahpundit points out, the press describes angry protests among Democratic contituencies as "rowdy," while grassroots conservatives are smeared as racist "tea-bagging" extremist mobs "shutting down" debate. And that's right after President Obama has insisted the "time for talk is over."

I've said it a couple of times, but the tea parties and the town hall protests are what's kept me sane this last few months (and I know some of my enemies don't think I'm sane, but I'm not going there).

Anyway, what I've seen and what I know to be true - based on my reporting and on my interactions with hundreds of concerned citizens throughout the year - is no match for the willful blindness that leftists attach to the "Astroturfing" meme. Jane Hamsher's one of the biggest proponents, seen here just today, for example, "How Come CBS Journalists Can’t Recognize Paid Lobbyists When They See Them?" Check also, Greg Sargent, "Is Obama’s Vaunted Political Operation Getting Outworked By Tea-Baggers?"

The bottom line will come in due time. The Dems may indeed get their big-government universal healthcare bill passed. That outcome will only make grassroots conservatives even more angry, and hence even more determined to win back power in 2010 and 2012.

'Gravediggers for ObamaCare': Dozens Protest Democrat Loretta Sanchez at O.C.'s Balboa Bay Club

Conservative activists gained considerable media attention today while protesting Loretta Sanchez's fundraiser this morning at the Balboa Bay Club, in tony Newport Beach.

Here are photos from the event, taken by cellphone (courtesy of Megan Barth). This first one is absolutely fantastic, "Gravediggers for ObamaCare":

I met Megan, the event organizer, at 8:00am along PCH in front of the Bay Club. The fundraiser was scheduled for 8:30am.

The location couldn't have been better for an ObamaCare protest. Newport Beach is super-affluent, and horns were blaring from cars going up and down Coast Highway.

A photographer from the Los Angeles Times showed up within the first half-hour. He was a real friendly guy - took lots of pictures and took down everyone's name. A Times reporter showed up a little later with a writing pad and started asking questions. Everything was totallly mellow. A few drive-by hecklers shouted at the group, and a passenger in a black BMW flipped the bird while heading south on PCH. We had a couple of leftists on foot stop and annoy us with personal stories of health problems, and with their ignorance of the actual legislation (read a draft of the House bill here).

The photographer told us to look for a report in the Times tomorrow (the story could run anywhere in the paper, and he hinted that we could make the front-page). Some of the local newspapers have already published their reports online.

See, the Daily Pilot, "Protesters Cite 'Chaos' If Health Plan Passes," and the Daily Voice, "Two Dozen Protest Rep. Sanchez Fundraising Breakfast at Balboa Bay Club."

This blog post at OC Weekly probably captures much leftist thinking on the tea parties, "Sanchez Navigates I've-Got-Mines to Get to Newport Beach Cash":

Junkets in Nouveau Riche generally do not draw protesters because the tony club is too far from their homes, parking is a bitch down there and attendance at jobs/bail hearings are required at that hour. But Loretta seems to bring out the loon in some people. Her otherwise routine money grab unhinged a couple dozen picketers ....

What had these fine folks peeved? Was it continuing warfare? Rising joblessness? The meltdown of Cash for Clunkers? Nope, seems the demonstrators were there to lash out about healthcare. But they were not representing the millions and millions of Americans lacking insurance coverage, being denied valid claims or experiencing rising co-pays and assorted out-of-pocket medical costs. Nope, that's what the I've-Got-Mines pooh-poohing the Sanchez visit LOVE about the current health-care system.

It's boilerplate, but that "jobs/bail" line is a riot!

It takes a huge leap to entertain the notion of my retired protesters above getting busted by the boys in blue of the Newport Beach PD.

In any case, Mark Ambinder offers an excellent analysis of the partisan framing in the debates over the healthcare backlash, although there's so far been no Astroturfing in the local events I've attended.

See, "Shocked. SHOCKED. Astoturfing Exists. ... Now What?" (via Memeorandum).

Obama White House to Monitor 'Casual Conversations' for Disinformation on Health Insurance Reform!

Now this is CREEPY:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Jeff Emanuel has the story, "Call For Informants: If You Oppose Obamacare, Even in ‘Casual Conversation,’ the White House Wants to Know About It."

Michelle Malkin suggests readers click the link and send them her report, "Health Care Czar’s Office Calls for Internet Snitch Brigade." Dan Collins has some thoughts as well, via Memeorandum.

I'm working on a report on today's anti-ObamaCare protest in Newport Beach, and I'm going to e-mail it to the White House when it's posted.

Don't be shy - send your blog post to the Health Czar's office. Michelle Malkin did it, and so can you!

California's Master Plan for Higher Education: Facing Crisis

I'm one to think that the financial problems in California's three-tiered system of higher education are cyclical. When the economy comes roaring back, legislators and future governors will lavish spending on all three levels of the state's college and university system.

Even in good times, however, there has been some erosion of support for even the elite University of California, and at the community college level, invested constituencies have less prestige and less power - and thus don't lobby as effectively to avoid funding crises. It remains to be seen what happens, but if California hopes to remain the world's leader in low cost collegiate education, folks need to think ahead: combine demands for state budget reform (some are talking about constitutational changes to the budgetary process) with innovations in funding of the state's schools. I'd be surprised if a more explicit foundation-style approach to funding research institutions couldn't be established (especially at the prestige schools, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD, for example); and the community colleges need to start charging more - even if that alienates the disadvantaged communities looking for a last chance at a college degree. We're not in 1960 any more.

That said, a lot in this Los Angeles Times article from last week is a bit pessimistic. A boom cycle will help the colleges in time. How the state takes advantage of it will depend on political leadership. Check, "California's Higher Education System Could Face Decline":

California's master plan for higher education, the product of an era of seemingly limitless opportunity, was nearly 30 years old when Nicolette Lafranchi was born in 1988. By the time she turned 20 last year, the plan was working well for her, just as it had for tens of millions of students before her.

That's less true now.

In the wake of massive cuts in California's three-tiered system of public colleges and universities, Lafranchi discovered that she can no longer transfer from Santa Rosa Junior College to San Francisco State University in December, as she had planned, because midyear admissions were eliminated.

Nor is that necessarily her biggest problem. A fall statistics class she needs is full. Without it, she faces the possibility of forfeiting her health insurance, which requires her to carry at least 12 college credits. A scholarship she had been receiving was eliminated.

"It's a lot at one time," she said. "You know, it's kind of sad. You think it's the state of California and we're the next generation, we have to take over from the baby boomers, but we're going to be a group of uneducated people.

"It's not kind of -- it is sad."

California's higher education system, created to offer the opportunity for advancement to any resident, rich or poor, has seen hard times before. But the deep cuts imposed by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this year are raising the question of whether the University of California, the California State University system and the nation's largest community college network can maintain their reputations for quality, or whether a public higher educational system that has been lauded as the world's finest may be in serious decline.

"This notion of the California dream, the idea that every adult could go to college, we've been hacking away at that during every recession for the past 25 years, and this year may well be it," said Patrick M. Callan, president of the San Jose-based National Center for Public Policy and Education. "We're coming out of this really tarnished."

The governor and legislative leaders acknowledge that the cuts will be devastating, but say they have no choice.

Already, campuses from Humboldt to San Diego are raising fees, shedding courses, slashing enrollment, and compelling faculty and staff to take unpaid furlough days. Class sizes are up, library hours are down, and long-held dreams for new programs and schools are on hold.

It's a far cry from the master plan's sweeping ambitions.

The state's college and university systems, which educate 2.3 million students annually, have roots in California's early days, but their modern history begins in 1960, when the educational plan was approved. It called for all state residents to have access to a tuition-free, public higher education, and outlined the mission of the three levels of colleges.

The higher education system has been credited with helping to shape and nurture California's economy and draw striving migrants from around the world.

"It had a magnet effect here for people who had ambitions for their children, that they could come to a place with good and virtually free public education all the way through college," said Richard White, an American history professor at Stanford University.

Read the whole thing, here.

White House Disinformation About Health Care Reform

The best way to evaluate the Linda Douglass White House Drudge rebuttal is to just watch it. At one point, Douglass says:

You know the people who always try to SCARE people whenever you try to bring them health-insurance reform are at it again. And they're taking sentences and phrases out of context, and they're cobbling them together to leave a VERY false impression.

She then turns around and shows snippets from Obama's statements and does the same thing:

But in addition to evaluating both sides of the messaging-war, folks should just read the bill, here.

The proposed legislation will levy fees on private insurance plans; the legislation will set prices for private insurance plans; the legislation will set prices for pharmaceutical medications; the legislation will authorize government audits of small business health coverage; the legislation will create healthcare rationing; the legislation will authorize bureaucratic decisions over health provision; and the legislation will raise taxes and shift funding mandates to the states.

There's lots more awful stuff beyond that. But folks should read the bill, here.

Also, check The Rhetorican, "Why Linda Douglass Is Wrong":

So the White House is calling the video about Obama dreaming of a world without private health insurance “misdisinformation”.

I thought Douglass was supposed to be a cunning propagandist media-savvy professional. Remember this? If anyone is spreading this so-called “misinformation”, it’s Obama himself.

Newsbusters has more, "White House Attacks Drudge for Exposing Obama's Goal to Eliminate Private Health Insurance."

More at Hot Air and from Pat in Shreveport.

Plus, check Memeorandum. Especially, Mike Allen, "Barack Obama vs. Drudge Report," Michael Scherer, "YouTube Wars: The White House Vs. Drudge Report."