Erick Erickson is Naming Names...UPDATED!!

...In the Nikki Haley "inappropriate relationship" scandal. See, "Naming Names," which is just a teaser for the drip, drip, drip of information he's rolling out today. I'll update later.

HuffPo's reporting as well. See, "Nikki Haley, Will Folks Phone Records: Pair Had Long, Late-Night, Convsersations."

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this one ... I've been on the road getting ready for tomorrow's Arizona SB 1070 protests.

Anyway, I wonder what's up with Erick Erickson? Does the guy have the goods on Will Folks or not? I guess not. See, "Letting the Chips Fall Where They May."

Allahpundit says no: "Red State: On second thought, we’re not sure if anyone’s paying Haley’s accuser."

And then Dan Riehl goes after the "pseudonymous boyo":

Yeah, maybe Erick screwed up on this one. But he basically admitted it, so why pile on? Because it was getting a lot of comments? How weak can you freaking get, dude?

Also, Eric's out here every day fighting the good fight without the need to hide behind some punk-assed pseudonym. And I'd rather have him in the fox hole next to me any day of the week, as opposed to some perpetual adolescent, half-baked conservative who cried out a whiny-assed alas and adieu before running away from the blogosphere because not enough people were paying attention to him before he was hired by Michelle Malkin as a snarky headline aggregator. Some of us do have memories, boyo.

Said punk should man up and lose the mask if he wants to directly criticize people with the balls to put their names and careers on the line every day as, you know, actual people; or maybe he should just stick to pics of McCain Blaghett's breasts and Palin winks before his comments drop even more and Salem Communications realizes just how easy it is to replace a pseudonymous Internet addict without a life whose big trick is slobbering over anything with breasts when he isn't comment trolling.

Say what you want about Erick. At least he isn't a punk and a cheap shot artist afraid to put his name on his posts.

Now that's a scandal!

Anyway, more at R.S. McCain, "Background to the Carolina Scandal: Will Folks, Jake Knotts and the ‘Hit List’; UPDATE: Who Is Rod Shealy?" (Also at Memeorandum.)

70th Anniversary of Dunkirk Evacuation

Theo Spark has a brief news clip, but see Jules Crittenden, "Miracle of Deliverance":

Under heavy attack by the Luftwaffe, an estimated 5,000 were killed in the evacuation and more than 200 vessels, one in four, were lost. Total allied casualties in the battle of Dunkirk, an estimated 30,000 killed or wounded and 34,000 missing or captured, according to Wikipedia. Another 338,000 were saved to fight another day. Hitler had ordered a three-day halt, and a number of top German brass considered the failure to launch an assault a critical error.

Plus, at Guardian UK, "Dunkirk spirit revived as Little Ships head back: More than 50 of the ships that took part in the Dunkirk evacuation returned to France today on the 70th anniversary," and Times of London, "Dunkirk veterans return to France to celebrate ‘Operation Dynamo’ 70th anniversary."

I Am Israel

"I Am Israel," via Right Truth:

RELATED: At Blazing Cat Fur: "Dykes Against Israel Apartheid." And, DoubleTapper, "IDF Women."

EXTRA: In the news, at Foreign Policy, "Reframing the debate about disarming Hizbullah."

KrisAnne Hall, Florida Assistant State Attorney, Fired for Speaking at Local Tea Party

From Right Scoop, "Florida Assistant State Attorney Fired for Speaking at Tea Party":

And at Miami Herald, "Prosecutor Fired After Free Speech Dispute."

Gov. Chris Christie Town Hall Meeting in Bergen County, N.J.

This has been going viral a bit, via BitsBlog, "Chris Christie Tells Teacher She Doesn't Have to Teach":

RELATED: At New Jersey Star-Ledger, "Gov. Chris Christie, N.J. residents argue during town hall meeting in Bergen County."

Obama's Katrina: Blame Where it Belongs

From Charles Krauthammer, at WaPo, "A Disaster With Many Fathers":

Here's my question: Why were we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place?

Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there. As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama's tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.) And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we've had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

So we go deep, ultra deep -- to such a technological frontier that no precedent exists for the April 20 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

There will always be catastrophic oil spills. You make them as rare as humanly possible, but where would you rather have one: in the Gulf of Mexico, upon which thousands depend for their livelihood, or in the Arctic, where there are practically no people? All spills seriously damage wildlife. That's a given. But why have we pushed the drilling from the barren to the populated, from the remote wilderness to a center of fishing, shipping, tourism and recreation?

Not that the environmentalists are the only ones to blame. Not by far. But it is odd that they've escaped any mention at all.

The other culprits are pretty obvious. It starts with BP, which seems not only to have had an amazing string of perfect-storm engineering lapses but no contingencies to deal with a catastrophic system failure ....

Obama didn't help much with his finger-pointing Rose Garden speech in which he denounced finger-pointing, then proceeded to blame everyone but himself. Even the grace note of admitting some federal responsibility turned sour when he reflexively added that these problems have been going on "for a decade or more" -- translation: Bush did it -- while, in contrast, his own interior secretary had worked diligently to solve the problem "from the day he took office."

Really? Why hadn't we heard a thing about this? What about the September 2009 letter from Obama's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accusing Interior's Minerals Management Service of understating the "risk and impacts" of a major oil spill? When you get a blowout 15 months into your administration, and your own Interior Department had given BP a "categorical" environmental exemption in April 2009, the buck stops.

In the end, speeches will make no difference. If BP can cap the well in time to prevent an absolute calamity in the gulf, the president will escape politically. If it doesn't -- if the gusher isn't stopped before the relief wells are completed in August -- it will become Obama's Katrina.

Plus, at Financial Times, "Spill Risks Turning Into Obama's Katrina‎." Also The Hill, "The Big Question: Is Obama to Blame for Gulf Coast Disaster?" (via Memeorandum). And from Damon N. Spiegel The Hill link, " The oil spill in the gulf might end up being one of the worst if not the worst environmental disaster this country has even seen. Katrina pales in comparison and the media put on a witch hunt over the former administration."

CARTOON CREDIT: Michael Ramirez at IBD.

Tiptoeing in Search of a National Security Strategy

I think the two videos below provide a striking --- if not frightening --- contrast between top-level thinking at the White House and the realities of the terrorist threat inside America's borders. At the first clip, John Brennan, President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, announced yesterday "that the term 'jihadists' should not be used to describe America's enemies." And below is a Fox News report on "a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico."

It just keeps coming, the news of increasing suspected terrorist activity in the U.S. And this is after the recent bombing attempts on Christmas Day and in Times Square. Something's going to happen, that's for sure. We've been lucky so far that no one's been killed during the recent attempts. Of course, it's not reassuring that as we see increasing signs of violent jihad at home, the administration continues to downgrade the threat and neuter our ability to respond. See Steve Schippert, "No Islamists, No Jihad: New Obama National Security Strategy 'Focuses' On Domestic Terror."

Plus at LAT, "U.S. Looks at Ways to Head Off Home-Grown Extremism":

After more than a dozen home-grown terrorist plots involving American Muslims since President Obama took office, the administration is moving to step up its scattershot efforts to counter domestic radicalism, prompting a debate over the proper role of government in addressing ideological threats.

Unlike Britain and other countries in Europe, the U.S. government does not have a national strategy to combat Islamic extremism, and no single agency in the vast American national security and intelligence bureaucracy is in charge of understanding and addressing the home-grown threat.

But since the Times Square bombing attempt this month, officials have begun to plan ways to ramp up.

On May 13, an advisory commission led by former FBI and CIA Director William Webster presented Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano with recommendations designed to boost her department's efforts against domestic violent extremism of all sorts. The recommendations are carefully worded and do not specify Muslims or Islam. They focus on community-based policing, under which the Homeland Security Department would step up training and information-sharing programs with local law enforcement.

Administration officials said other responses also were being discussed, including drawing lessons from Britain and other countries in Europe.

The National Security Council six months ago convened a policy committee to examine what some call "counter-radicalization" efforts. The council has met twice with the president on the issue, according to a senior administration official involved in the effort.

Still, the idea of the government playing a role in countering radicalization provokes uneasiness among both U.S. officials and civil liberties activists, who recall a legacy of abuses in the 1950s and '60s in the pursuit of communists and leftists.

Much of the government's counter-terrorism apparatus consists of law enforcement agencies that now see their mission as investigating threats, crimes and conspiracies — not radical ideas that, however loathsome, are protected by the Constitution.

Well, we wouldn't want to alienate our "moderate" Muslim citizens, you know, the ones who're constantly demonstrating in protest of creeping Islamization in the Western democracies. (Not!)

More at the link (FWIW).

Added: Linked at Astute Bloggers, "OBAMA'S NEW NATIONAL SECURITY DOCTRINE: RETREAT!"

California GOP Senate Primary Down to Final Stretch

The wide discrepancies in the CA Senate poll findings are problematic. Chuck DeVore released a poll Monday which has him at 19 percent and within the margin of error compared to Fiorina's support at 28 percent. That sounds more reasonable to me, although Fiorina's got an undeniable advantage in getting the message out in paid television media. Things will tighten up in the last week of campaigning, and my sense is that grassroots turnout's going to help DeVore much more than either Fiorina or Tom Cambell, the third candidate in the race (see video at bottom). In any case, folks might also take a look at this commentary as well: "Why Tom Campbell and Carly Fiorina Cannot Beat Barbara Boxer (Why Chuck DeVore Can)."

Oops! CNN Gives 'Shout Out' for 103 Year-Old Black Motorist with 'Nigga' Rap Song

Via I Hate the Media:

Public Reacts to Gulf Spill With Increased Support for Environmental Protection

It's hard to defend the free market when you have environmental degradation on this scale (click image to enlarge):

"A young heron sits dying amidst oil splattering underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, along the the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 23, 2010." (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

And from NYT, "Estimates Suggest Spill Is Biggest in U.S. History."

Consequently, at Gallup, "Oil Spill Alters Views on Environmental Protection: Majority now favors protecting environment over developing energy supplies" (via Memeorandum):

The recent oil spill has spurred a significant shift in Americans' environmental attitudes. For the last few years, Americans' environmental concerns declined as the public placed a higher priority on pocketbook concerns like the economy and energy, likely due to the poor U.S. economy. However, in just two months' time, that trend has reversed, and the pro-environment position has regained the strength it showed for most of the last decade.

Gallup's data show Democrats and independents leaning much more heavily toward environmental protection, but, interestingly, the crisis is not shaping up as a political winner for President Obama. The administration's horrendous response to the disaster has to take the cake for bureaucratic ineptitude. The resignation of S. Elizabeth Birnbaum as Director of the Mineral Management Service should be the beginning of a clean-up operation at the White House. Why not fire both DHS Secretary Janet Incompetano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as well? Also noteworthy is the fact that once the crisis recedes from the headlines, we'll see support for increasing energy supplies domestically, and especially development of "on land" locations such as ANWR. Sarah Palin's been making the case, but it's clear by now that, without pushback and rebuttal, the left's anti-market totalitarianism will harm the economy, damage workers, and reduce American competitiveness and innovation. You can't blame conservatives for blind faith in markets over regulation, since even Rand Paul's libertarianism represents the far side of the ideological continuum. Tea partiers, for example, aren't reflexively anti-government. The issue has always been good government and smaller government, and the media's sick caricatures have done little to discredit the idea that massive spending and bailout mania under the Democrats represents the wave of the future. We'll have continuing support for regulation, just smarter and more innovative regulatory intervention in markets to safely unlock the potential of our natural resources. That's not to say this crisis doesn't represent a turning point. But in which direction will we turn? We're nowhere near energy independence (so the left has a lot of disaster-cheeering still to do in addition to developing a "green economy"). And we're already a nation where public employment is becoming more lucrative and widespread than that of the private sector. So yeah, it's a turning point --- and over time, hopefully, a turn for the better, cleaner, smarter and more productive --- since no nation can sustain such imbalances indefinitely. (But for a contrasting whacked nutroots example, see Jamelle Bouie at Matthew Yglesias' blog).

Blogger Pamela Geller Campaigns to Stop 'Islamization of America'

My friend Pamela Geller's in the news. Yesterday she gained some attention in the New York media for her "Leave Islam" advertising campaign running on city buses. The Daily News had a piece, "Pamela Geller, blogger with Tea Party ties, launches ad crusade against 'Islamization of America'."

Video below from the local news broadcast, and also at this morning's Los Angeles Times, "Leaving Islam? Bus ads in New York are offering help: Muslims are calling the ads — paid for by a conservative activist and the organizations she leads — a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda."

'But Make No Mistake ..." – Obama Defends Handling of Oil Spill

That "but make no mistake" is the giveaway for President Obama's damage control mode. The New York Times has a report, "Obama Defends Handling of Oil Spill." Also, at Politico, "Obama: Critics 'don't know the facts'." (Via Memeorandum.)

The big question is whether this is Obama's Katrina, and there's no contest. Unlike 2005, the response was not federalized across the different levels of government. Obama gets the blame, and it's not conservatives who're talkin' the loudest, but top Democratic personalities. Obama. Is. BP. Fail.

Ardi Rizal, 2 Year-Old Smoker, Not Helping Libertarian Cause

As if Rand Paul wasn't enough!

Now we have plump Indonesian 2 year-old Ardi Rizal creating an international sensation with his pack-a-day cigarette habit!

Fearing for the health of the child, the Indonesian government offered to buy the family a car if they'd get the tot to quit. But Ardi's proud freedom-loving daddy Mohammed responded, "He looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem."

Also, at London's Daily Mail, "Too unfit to run: Two-year-old who smokes 40 cigarettes a day puffs away on a toy truck."

'Top Kill' Plugs Gulf Oil Leak, Coast Guard Reports

At Los Angeles Times, "'Top kill' plugs gulf oil leak, official says: Drilling fluid has blocked oil and gas, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says. Engineers plan to begin pumping in cement and then will seal the well":

Engineers have stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.

The "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers, had pumped enough drilling fluid to block oil and gas spewing from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well was very low, he said, but persisting.

Once engineers had reduced the well pressure to zero, they were to begin pumping cement into the hole to entomb the well. To help in that effort, he said, engineers also were pumping some debris into the blowout preventer at the top of the well.

Also at New York Times, "'Top Kill' Effort Seems to Be Working, U.S. Says Cautiously."

RELATED: At CNN, "Gulf of Mexico oil spill called worst in U.S. history":

DHS Worried About 'Coyotes' Smuggling al Qaeda Operatives Across U.S.-Mexican Border

Well, it's not like they'd have a hard time getting over. At Fox News, "Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border" (via Memeorandum):

Anthony Joseph Tracy, of Virginia, who admitted to having ties to Al Shabaab, is currently being prosecuted for his alleged role in an international ring that illegally brought more than 200 Somalis across the Mexican border. Prosecutors say Tracy used his Kenya-based travel business as a cover to fraudulently obtain Cuban travel documents for the Somalis. The smuggled Somalis are believed to have spread out across the United States and remain mostly at large, court records show.

Somalis are classified by border and immigration officials as “special interest” — illegal immigrants who get caught trying to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. who come from countries that are considered a high threat to the U.S., Neuhaus Schaan explained.

DHS did not respond to multiple e-mail and phone requests for comment.

In addition to the Somali immigration issue, Mexican smugglers are coaching some Middle Eastern immigrants before they cross the border – schooling them on how to dress and giving them phrases to help them look and sound like Latinos, law enforcement sources told FoxNews.com.

“There have been a number of certain communities that have noticed this, villages in northern Mexico where Middle Easterners try to move into town and learn Spanish,” Neuhaus Schaan said. “People were changing there names from Middle Eastern names to Hispanic names.”
Security experts say the push by illegal immigrants to try to fit in also could be the realization of what officials have feared for years: Latin American drug cartels are helping jihadist groups bring terrorists across the Mexican border.

J. Peter Pham, senior fellow and director of the Africa Project at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, said that for the past ten years there’s been suspicion by U.S. law enforcement that drug cartels could align with international terrorist organizations to bring would-be-jihadists into the U.S.

That kind of collaboration is already being seen in Africa, said Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

“Al Qaeda could easily say, “Ok, now we want your help getting these guys into the United States,” Phares said. “Eventually the federal government will pay more attention, but there is a window of time now where they can get anyone they want to get in already.”

Experts also say the DHS alert and recent court case highlights the threat of terrorists penetrating the Mexican/Texas border — and the growing threat of Somali recruitment efforts to bring Americans of Somali descent back to Somalia for jihadist training, creating homegrown terrorists.

Pham says the DHS alert comes too late. “They’re just covering themselves for the fact that DHS has been failing to date to deal effectively with this,” he said. “They’re already here.”

Also at YidWithLid, "Feds Issue Terror Watch For Illegals Crossing Texas/Mexico Border."

Live-Stream Video of ‘Top Kill’ Deep-Gusher Method: BP Reports Everything 'Going as Planned'

At Fox News, "BP Says Effort to Plug Oil Leak Going as Planned":

BP started pumping heavy mud into the leaking Gulf of Mexico well Wednesday and said everything was going as planned in the company's boldest attempt yet to plug the gusher that has spewed millions of gallons of oil over the last five weeks.

BP hoped the mud could overpower the steady stream of oil, but chief executive Tony Hayward said it would be at least 24 hours before officials know whether the attempt worked. The company wants to eventually inject cement into the well to seal it.

"I'm sure many of you have been watching the plume," Hayward said of the live video stream of the leak. "All I can say is it is unlikely to give us any real indication of what is going on. Either increases or decreases are not an indicator of either success or failure at this time."

A full backround report is here: "BP Streams Live Video of ‘Top Kill’ Procedure."

Also, at USA Today, "Poll: Majority give Obama, feds failing grade on oil spill response" (via Memeorandum).

Americans Support Arizona SB 1070, But Divisions Emerge

At the image, at right, is my friend of 30 years, and Wilshire Tea Party leader, Michael Fell.

Members of Los Angeles Tea Party, and Westside Republicans hold rally against the Los Angeles City Council's vote to boycott Arizona because of its illegal immigration law, outside the Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. The law requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they're in the country illegally. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

And at MSNBC, "On immigration, racial divide runs deep: Poll: Only 22 percent of Latinos have favorable view of GOP":

White and Latino Americans are deeply divided over immigration, their allegiances to the nation’s political parties and their opinions about President Barack Obama, according to a new NBC/MSNBC/Telemundo poll.

And in the wake of Arizona’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law, the survey suggests that Republicans could get an immediate political boost, but may face a long-term problem among Latinos, the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group.

“Are there areas where the Republicans can make short-term gains? Yes,” says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this poll with GOP pollster Bill McInturff.

Breaking down the white-Latino divide

In the poll, 61 percent say they favor Arizona’s new anti-illegal immigration law, which would require local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if they have reason to suspect a person is in the country illegally. The law would also make it a crime to lack the proper registration documents.

But there’s a divide among white and Latino respondents: 70 percent of whites support the law, versus just 31 percent of Latinos. In fact, 58 percent of Latinos say they strongly oppose it.

That’s not the only chasm between White and Latino America. While 68 percent of Latinos believe that immigration strengthens the United States, just 43 percent of whites think that.

And they differ in their perceptions about Obama and the political parties. Although the president’s job-approval rating sits at 48 percent overall, down two points from an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll earlier this month, only 38 percent of whites approve of Obama’s job, versus 68 percent of Latinos who do.

What’s more, 37 percent of whites view the Republican Party favorably, while just 22 percent of Latinos have a favorable impression of the GOP.

And although only 34 percent of whites hold a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, 54 percent of Latinos view the party in a positive light.

“The gap between whites and Hispanic American is substantial,” says McInturff, the Republican pollster.

More at the link.

Video c/o Doug Ross and Secure the Border Intelligence (and see, "Websites' raw video documents Arizona's border battle").

GOP Pressure Builds on Joe Sestak White House Job Offer

The GOP puts the pressue on, "Exclusive: All 7 Republicans on Senate Judiciary Committee Ask AG Holder to Appoint Special Prosecutor to Look Into Alleged Sestak Job Offer" (via Memeorandum).

Video Hat Tip: Michelle, "Look who’s behind the White House/Sestak stonewall."

'We're Going to Bring Your Racism Down' – Stand With Arizona, May 29th!

I will be in Arizona this weekend to report on the major anti-illegal immigration protest in Phoenix. Organizers are turning this into a nationwide movement to "bring your racism down," according to Arizona Daily Sun:

Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, said there is a need to focus attention on Arizona.

"Arizona has become the testing ground for the most draconian antiimmigrant legislation in our country," he said.

"It is in Arizona and other similar states where the immigration debate has been polluted with hate and poisoned by bigotry," Alvarado continued. "It is in Arizona where politicians and law enforcement agents have become the folk heroes of white supremacist organizations and individuals."

Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said those who are not in the state cannot imagine the fear the new law has created.

"You have to come to Arizona, come to the march, talk to the people," she said. "You can feel the fear once you get off the airplane."

But the protest goes beyond the march and beyond the calls for individuals and groups to boycott Arizona. It now is targeting specific companies.

One is the Arizona Diamondbacks based on what he said is the "extraordinary hypocrisy" of owner Ken Kendrick who Gutierrez said has been involved with those opposed to immigrants. Kendrick has been a supporter of Republican candidates and recently help raise money for GOP congressional candidate Jonathan Paton.

Others being targeted include ...

RTWT at the link.

But also on Saturday is the big Stand With Arizona event in Tempe. Try to make it out to show your solidarity. Our good friends in Arizona are not just dealing with this:

But the open-borders fifth column as well, "We're Going to Bring Your Racism Down":

Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project

I'm getting a lot of promotional materials. This stuff came last month:

From the website:

The Martin Luther King Jr., National Memorial is conceived as an engaging landscape experience tied to other landscapes and monuments, not as a single object or memorial dominating the site.

Location: National Mall in Washington, D.C.: Landscape: Natural elements – water, stone, trees – are used to underscore the themes of justice, democracy and hope, and love.

Composition and Space: This memorial is not designed to be experienced in a single way with one single message, but rather it is to have a broad accessibility, appealing to all of the senses with diverse, repetitive and overlapping themes.

**********

Why build a Memorial to Dr. King? More than a monument to a great humanitarian, the National Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be a place for visitors from all over the world to be energized by its extraordinary power; the power that illuminated the faith of our founders and now impels us toward our destiny as a nation; the power flowing from the uniquely American spirit of brotherly love, freedom, justice, and the priceless blessing they endure...peace.

I love Washington, D.C.

This looks like a wonderful project. See the the homepage, Build the Dream.

RELATED: Check the Wikipedia entry for the background to the project, which is almost 100 percent privately-funded. Also, "King Center: MLK's Children Not Making Money on Memorial."