Thousands Turn Out for Irvine and Oceanside Tea Parties!

The weather on Thursday was perfect for tea partying.

I attended two events: The Non-Partisan Tax Day Rally at the Irvine Auto Center, just a few minutes from my home. And The Tax Day Tea Party at the Oceanside Pier Amphitheater.

According to the Orange County Register, citing event organizers, just "400" turned out for the Irvine tea party. But last year the Register claimed the just "hundreds" came out the April 15th tea party in Santa Ana (thousands turned out), and at the peak of Thursday's rally we easily had 800 people on hand in Irvine, quite possibly a thousand:

I took close to 150 pictures. I'll post more over the next few days. Meanwhile, some greats shots from the afternoon. Here's "Lady Liberty" starting off the rally with an invocation:

An excited patriot displays his poster, an awesome take-off on Ronald Reagan:

Yours truly (tea party professor) at the event:

Local opposition to ObamaCare:

One of my favorite signs of the whole day:

Another enthusiastic patriot:

The Secretary of State was able to make it, with her former president hubby:

Also President and First Lady Obama:

Lots of media teams on hand. Here's the KABC Los Angeles truck and a dude with the Gadsden flag:

Another great sign, from a genuine goddess:

Folks had a lot of professional signs with non-cluttered messages:

This is Kira Davis, who was interviewed at the Orange County Register, "I've had enough with the government taking our hard earned dollars and spending them in wasteful ways," she said. "I've met the nicest most open people today":

This patriot's got a Chuck DeVore sticker:

And he didn't go home disappointed. GOP Senate candidate Chuck DeVore running virtually neck-and-neck in a general election matchup with Barbara Boxer:

Steve Poizner spoke after DeVore, but more on him later. I took off a few minutes thereafter to have some lunch before heading down to Oceanside. AND HERE IT IS, OCEANSIDE, BELOW. And boy, was that a great crowd in North San Diego County, easily well-over a couple of thousand people. I said hello to the gentlemen from Irvine with the Reagan "recession" sign (partially obscured). We both laughed when I joked about two rallies in one day:

I kept moving up the stairs and then stood by a railing looking back down. Tea partiers are still arriving. It's about 4:30pm, the event's start time:

I walked around the amphitheater to get more crowd shots. Immigration's quite an issue around these parts:

Back up at The Strand, I came across this gentlemen hanging out with a friend, with another straightforward message for November. Notice the stage below, with the ocean backdrop. Great spot for a tea party:

This is Lloyd Prosser, who's a candidate for Oceanside City Council. A Marine Vietnam veteran, he noted during his speech that a year ago he was out in the stands as a fellow tea partier. This year he's a candidate for the Council. I heard a similar story at the Irvine rally, from one of the candidates for the GOP Central Committee. Amazing what's been taking place at the grassroots since the Obama-Dems took power:

The crowd's filling out now, but folks were still coming. I walked down the pier a bit for this shot. Sweet:

More media:

Walking back down now, you can get a feel for density of the crowd

I met up with Tim from Left Coast Rebel. He was on the lookout for tea party crashers, and he found some, "SEIU/ACORN/Fake Tea Party Plant at the Oceanside Tax Day Tea Party Doesn't Get Very Far":

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner made it down to Oceanside as well. He doesn't seem so much like a tea partier, actually (and as I write this a Poizner ad comes on the television):

While hanging out, I surveyed the crowd for signs, and ran up the steps to this woman. She was flattered:

Chuck DeVore made it to Oceanside as well, and he immediately connected with the huge veterans' contingent (Camp Pendleton's nearby). DeVore rattled off variations in the "hooah!" greeting between the Army and Marines. He's a former reservist, and combined with his authentic conservative credentials, he was a crowd pleaser:

I'll have more tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

The Year in Tea Parties @ 'American Power'

I had no idea, but April 15, 2009, would mark a radical turning point in my personal and political development. For one thing, I'd never photo-blogged before, and now I love it. I became a citizen-journalist after Tax Day 2009, not just an opinion blogger. It's been empowering. And that's important for the second change in my life. After last April I went from being largely resigned to the Democrats in power for the next two years, to being extremely active in helping to remove the radicals from office. I also went from being a little depressed, frankly, to feeling much better about myself and my life. And I quit drinking a couple of days after April 15th last year. (Not totally. I've had beers on my birthday, Christmas, and a recent family reunion, but that's it -- and I've lost over ten pounds in that 12 months!)

In any case, with the exception my mug shot here, the rest of the photos are here for the first time, from last year's "Orange County Tax Day Tea Party":

The anti-tax theme was to give way to the healthcare protests shortly after Tax Day. I went on to cover events in Pasadena, Alhambra, Orange County Airport ("Patriots Against Pelosi"), Laguna Hills, and Temecula, to name just a handful.

I'll have a report tonight or tomorrow of today's tea party rallies. Meanwhile, check Gateway Pundit, Glenn Reynolds, Michelle Malkin, and Robert Stacy McCain.

Have a great day!

Keeley Hazell!

A little diversion for readers while I'm out tea partying today.

More at Doug Hagin, The Other McCain, and Theo Spark,

BONUS: At Washington Rebel, "Twin Whip Thursday!"

The Internal Revenue Nightmare

"The Onerous Compliance Cost of the Internal Revenue Code":

Hat Tip: Dan Mitchell, at Big Government, "New Video Exposes Nightmare of IRS Complexity."

Change! Six in 10 Americans Expect Their Taxes to Increase

At Gallup, "Six in 10 Americans Expect Their Taxes to Increase":

Sixty-three percent of Americans believe their taxes will increase in the next 12 months, while 4% expect a change that will reduce their taxes. Majorities of all income groups share this view, though it is more common among Americans in upper-income households ....

Despite the president's tax policies to date and his plans for the future, middle- and lower-income Americans may perceive that the federal government will need to raise taxes to pay for its greater spending and rising deficits since Obama took office, including the recently passed healthcare legislation, with its price tag of just under $1 trillion.

Yep, sounds about right ... could be related to this, "Poll: Opposition to Obama's Health Law Surges":

Also, at Hot Air, "Gallup: Only 3% of Americans say their taxes are too low." (Via Memeorandum.)

Dems Freakin' at Tea Party Power!

I guess, for radical hack Thers, if you pack enough f-bombs into a post folks will take you F***ING seriously, "Late Night: Tea-Boring."

Meanwhile, see "Why Democrats Fear the Tea Party Movement." And from Dan Riehl:

If Democrats weren't deathly afraid of the movement, they wouldn't be trying to smear, marginalize and even destroy it as they have. Democrats are vwery vwery afwaid of the Tea Party movement. And they have good reason to be. Party on!

And that's my good friend Dana Loesch at the viddy, "Do Democrats Fear Tea Party Power?"

Happy Tax Day Tea Party!

Look out for criminals and subversives today:

The radical anti-American left is going back to doing what it enjoys best: infiltrating and disrupting gatherings of patriotic Americans, as well as trying to discredit or undermine normal citizens so as to make them look like kooks. In addition to those who bankroll the Obama supporters of the oppressive left, there is reason to believe that criminals and subversives are at work to bring down the Tea Party's anti-tax rallies. Whether these groups overlap is at this point a matter of conjecture. They are certainly singing from the same hymn-book on the anti-Tea Party effort.

Oh, they overlap alright. See, "Oregon Teacher Panel Probes Educator Determined to 'Demolish' Tea Party."

And at Michelle's, "How to spot and tag a Tea Party infiltrator":

RELATED: Gateway Pundit, "Tens of Thousands of Tea Party Patriots Ready to Rally – Hundreds of Tax Day Protests Planned."

Opposition to Obama's Health Law Surges

At Fox News, "Poll: Opposition to Obama's Health Law Surges":

Opposition to President Barack Obama's health care law jumped after he signed it -- a clear indication his victory could become a liability for Democrats in this fall's elections.

A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds Americans oppose the health care remake 50 percent to 39 percent. Before a divided Congress finally passed the bill and Obama signed it at a jubilant White House ceremony last month, public opinion was about evenly split. Another 10 percent of Americans say they are neutral.

Disapproval for Obama's handling of health care also increased from 46 percent in early March before he signed the bill, to 52 percent currently -- a level not seen since last summer's angry town hall meetings.

Nonetheless, the bleak numbers may not represent a final judgment for the president and his Democratic allies in Congress.

Only 28 percent of those polled said they understand the overhaul extremely or very well. And a big chunk of those who don't understand it remain neutral. Democrats hope to change public opinion by calling attention to benefits available this year for seniors, families with children transitioning to work and people shut out of coverage because of a medical problem.

Good luck with that!

Teabag Badge of Honor

A follow-up to, "Teabagging Since 1773!"

I'm a proud teabagger. Embrace the hate I say. And no one hates more than Digby the Communist. See, "Teabag Nation" (via Memeorandum). Every caricature about extreme left-wing ideology is here, so buckle-up for radical ride:

The most charitable thing to say about this is that at least some of these people are just looking for some meaning in their lives and this movement is giving it to them. (I would guess that there are a few on our side who were drawn to the progressive movement for the same reasons.) They pick the teabaggers because it's their natural tribe. It's like my sister-in-law once explained to me: "being a Democrat would be as if I were a cat having my fur rubbed backwards." So I get that.

There's nothing particularly surprising about the rest of them either. These people are nothing new. They have different iterations, but when you get right down to it they are, quite simply, the far right. They hate poor people (especially blacks) and they hate government that helps poor people (especially blacks.) They are deluded about taxes and spending and are paranoid about the government being infiltrated by "the other." They believe they are the only "true" Americans and alternate between insisting that their "traditional values" are best represented by the Bible or the Constitution, both of which they believe they are ordained by God to properly interpret. And they do not really believe in democracy which is really why they hate the government.

Cartoon Hat Tip: Theo Spark.

Teabagging Since 1773!

Video c/o Althouse.

And see also, NYT, "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated":

Of the 18 percent of Americans who identified themselves as supporters, 20 percent, or 4 percent of the general public, said they had given money or attended a Tea Party event, or both. These activists were more likely than supporters generally to describe themselves as very conservative and had more negative views about the economy and Mr. Obama. They were more angry with Washington and intense in their desires for a smaller federal government and deficit.

Yep, sounds about right, but there's snarkworthy material there as well, so RTWT.

Leftist 'PolitiFact' Smashes Julian Assange's 'Permission-to-Engage' Allegations ... Plus, Commies Pissed Colbert DID REAL JOURNALISM!!

The left-wing PolitFact "The Truth-O-Meter" hammers WikiLeaks Editor Julian Assange's claim that "permission to engage was given before the word RPG was ever used":

When Assange points out in the context of justifying the title "Collateral Murder" that the word "RPG" was not used until after the permission to engage was given, he leaves the impression that the soldiers were given the okay to open fire on a group of unarmed men, or men believed to be unarmed. But the video and accompanying audio make clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted "weapons" among those in the group -- later identified by an army investigator as an AK-47 and an RPG -- and that they mistook two cameras with telephoto lenses as weapons as well. Assange said he does not accept that his comment makes that implication, that introductory text in the video clearly states, "Although some of the men appear to have been armed, the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed."

Who can say whether those in the Apache meant RPG when the cross-hairs turned to two of the other men in the group -- not journalists -- and they said "he's got a weapon, too." Photographs suggest that it probably was a man with an RPG, and another with an AK-47 rifle. Still, the soldiers in the Apache reported, "Five to six individuals with AK-47s." That's what the permission to engage appears to have been based upon. RPG's were not specifically referred to by that point, but other "weapons" were. And so while Assange's statement is technically accurate, we think it leaves out critical context. And we rule it Half True.

"Half True?"

Not a ringing endorsement, eh, considering how many MSM-types have swallowed the WikiLeaks slanders hook, line, and sinker.

Plus, radical jerkwad Freddie DeBoer gets pissed that Stephen Colbert had the temerity to "break out of character":

It's a funny world we live in. Colbert has an opinion on whether or not what is revealed in that video is murder. He's entitled to it. Strange to see him step out of character; this, I take it, was a bridge too far, a crime too great to ignore: calling soldiers who fired round after round onto people attempting to load the wounded into a van and get them medical attention "murderers," well, that's past irony and shtick. That requires open and unequivocal condemnation. It's funny-- I consulted older videos of Colbert, online. He has spoken to members of Congress who voted for the war in Iraq several times. He has interview many who were involved in the apparatus of enacting the Iraq war, or who lent their considerable influence to the war effort. He has interview, that is to say, the people who created the material conditions where the victims of this attack were placed in harms way, where the soldiers involved were placed in danger of losing both their lives and their moral integrity. That's war, I'm told; you shouldn't wage it without being willing to risk atrocity.

Freddie's a tool. Funny timing too. Just as Colbert's interview put the final nail in the WikiLeaks coffin, communist bloggers like DeBoer start attacking those formerly thought as in the tank.

Funny, but typical.

VIDEO CREDIT: The WikiLeaks Deception, c/o Jawa Report.

Sarah Palin at Boston Tea Party!

At NYT, "Palin Invokes Tea Party Origins."

And the video's c/o The Right Scoop, "Sarah Palin’s Full Speech at the Boston Tea Party":

See also Politico, "Sarah Palin Throws Boston Tea Party" (via Memeorandum).

How Bad For the Democrats in 2010?

Having little knowledge of how congressional elections work, JBW thought he'd attempt to puff out his concave chest a bit, slapping down some nonsensical wager to mask his intellectual impotence and moral depravity:

If ... Don is so certain about Obama's dismal approval ratings translating into epic failure then I'll offer him this meager yet serious wager: $100 says that the Republicans fail to gain a majority in either house of congress this November. I'm making the offer publicly so that every one reading this will be privy to it. I think Obama's a chess master of the highest caliber Don, and he's moved his pieces into position to retain his party's majorities through the remainder of his first term. Care to put your money where your mouth is, Fat Boy Slim?

Just ignore JBW's weightist slur there at the end (the dude's shootin' blanks, so no surprise with the bigotry).

I'll add though, it's guaranteed that "Obama's dismal approval ratings" -- combined with economic anxiety and anti-incumbency outrage -- will translate into Democratic losses this fall. The questions is how large will they be?

Sean Trende has thoughts on this today. See, "How Bad Could 2010 Really Get For Democrats?":

I think those who suggest that the House is barely in play, or that we are a long way from a 1994-style scenario are missing the mark. A 1994-style scenario is probably the most likely outcome at this point. Moreover, it is well within the realm of possibility - not merely a far-fetched scenario - that Democratic losses could climb into the 80 or 90-seat range. The Democrats are sailing into a perfect storm of factors influencing a midterm election, and if the situation declines for them in the ensuing months, I wouldn't be shocked to see Democratic losses eclipse 100 seats.

You'll want to check the whole thing. Trende's mostly analyzing macro-trends, which lack specificity and suffer from extreme volatility. His presentation of data is pretty convincing, in any case, in the probabilistic sense: There's an extremely intuitive case to be made for a massive blowout this fall, with voters repudiating the Democrats up and down the ballot across the country. I think it's going to happen, but I wouldn't bet on it until I see more data. Specifically, for Congress, we'd need to have some hard polling results at the district level (ideally in all 435 constituencies), along with the incumbent's margin of victory in 2008, as well as the party results for the presidential race. Trende does offer something along those lines, with this map, which shows "a rough average of the President's approval in recent state polls":

As you can see, a number of Obama states in 2008 are now "red states" at the map: Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia; plus, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- all Obama states in 2008 -- are trending GOP in the polls. And thus, contra JBW, Mr. "Chess Master" Obambi's heading into epic fail territory as per state-level aggregate data. And Trende notes that "The One" is in fact killing his party:

President Obama's policy choices to date are wreaking havoc on the brand that Democrats cultivated carefully over the past twenty years. Bill Clinton worked long and hard to make it so that voters could say "fiscal conservative" and "Democrat" in the same sentence, but voters are finding it difficult to say that again.

I think Trende's analysis is probably the best you'll see until we have some full-on political science analysis of prospects around the country. Folks can go to Congressional Quarterly to see their "Race Rating Maps for 2010 Elections."

And with that, if JBW's so confident that "Obama's a chess master of the highest caliber," then the Dems shouldn't lose any seats at all. I mean, seriously, President George W. Bush actually gained seats in his first midterm elections in 2002 -- 6 in the House and 2 in the Senate. Since Obambi's so much greater than GWB (well, not, actually, not that lefties care), no doubt JBW will gladly put his money where is weightist-wanker mouth is. $100 says Dems lose seats in 2010. If on the other hand, Obama, like Bush in 2002, gains Democratic seats in Congress this year, I'll cut Brain Rage poser-boy a check for $100 fat ones. "Care to put your money where your mouth is," sexist weightmaster prick?

RELATED: Michael Barone, "What 1946 Can Tell Us About 2010."

Desperate Tea Party Crashers

I'll be covering some of the local rallies for tomorrow's National Tax Day Tea Party:

And the news is for good folks to be on the lookout for idiot "tea party crashers."

Michelle's got the main piece on this, "Alinsky’s Avenging Angels: Tea Party Saboteurs."

Also, Sister Toldjah, "Running scared: NH Dem source says state liberals trying to recruit Tea Party crashers." And JammieWearingFool, "Hospitality Exec Plans to Crash Boston 'Tea Party Express of Retards'."

Plus, from Dana Loesch, "Tea Party Crashers Cozy Up to MSM For a Celebration of Marxism 101." (Via Memeorandum.)

It's Come to This? Dems Allege Tea Party Bestiality

I can't think of a strong enough condemnation for Buffalo Republican Carl Paladino. The New York State GOP gubernatorial candidate's been topping the Demo-desperation headlines for the last couple of days, with attention on a steaming pile of depraved e-mails, racist "humor," and graphic videos of pornography and bestiality.

In a GRAPHIC report, WNY Media writes:

In this political climate, it’s safe to assume that the opportunists and hangers-on that make up much of Carl’s activist base will dismiss this report as a “smear” and circle the wagons around their candidate. It is the political culture wrought by Sarah Palin. A reflexive defensiveness to criticism from the opposition on even the most obvious of hypocrisies, malevolence or provable falsehoods.

It’s why Carl Paladino is morphing into Carl Palin-dino, New York State’s own tea party fringe opportunist. However, people who are just being introduced to Carl Paladino now know he’s the kind of guy who enjoys videos of woman copulating with horses and sending racist emails which would make David Duke blush.

Folks can judge the breadth of this broad-brush smear of Sarah Palin and the tea parties. As anyone can see, leftists are panicked in sheer horror as their political fortunes sink deeper into the socialist crapper.

And again, as for Paladino? I have nothing but universal disgust for the asshole. He's a sick piece of trash if he thought this stuff was funny -- and the additional news of a 10 year-old "love child" now "fully integrated into the family" clearly puts this guy right up there in John Edwards territory for the ultimate in douchebaggery. But hey, if the radical leftists are reaching for folks like this Paladino trash, you know things aren't going so well on the Democratic side of the aisle.

RELATED: I can't see how this helps, "Paladino Apologizes for Inappropriate E-mails":

I Don't Mind You Comin' Here...

Total high school flashback, The Cars, "Just What I Needed." At Wikipedia here. Enjoy:

See also, Theo Spark, "Bedtime Totty ...", and Washington Rebel, "Tuesday Whip."

Thug Union Boss Andrew Stern to Retire

NYT has a generic report, "Stern, Head of S.E.I.U., Plans to Retire."

But see Michelle, "Purple People upheaval: What’s behind SEIU thug-in-chief Andy Stern’s resignation?; Update: The shadow of Richard Trumka; SEIU issues statement":

HuffPo lefties also confirm the rumors.

Behind the scenes and under the radar screen, as I’ve reported over the last year, Stern has installed a cadre of labor management stooges embroiled in financial scandals across the country and rankled rank-and-file watchdogs within the Big Labor organization. Obama paid no heed – appointing Stern to the federal joke of a “fiscal responsibility” panel.

And while fatcat union bosses toss hundreds of millions of dues into Democrat coffers, low-wage SEIU members’ pension funds are eroding and the organization’s debt is piling up. The union also remains under investigation by federal prosecutors for potential illegal lobbying activities at the White House.

A nasty fight in San Francisco with a rival union, UNITE HERE, has caused Stern major headaches and litigation costs.

As I reported in December, health care workers in Washington state also revolted against SEIU pressure.

And the Blago scandal, in which Stern plays a central role, still looms.

Union heavies don’t just relinquish their control and throw themselves under the bus for the standard bogus Beltway excuses (the need to “spend more time with family,” etc.).

This smells. Stay tuned.

FRONTLINE: 'Obama's Deal'

At Boston Globe, "From Behind Closed Doors, High-Stakes Victory":

It’s hard to remember a piece of federal legislation since the civil rights bills of the ’60s that has rocked this country as has the leviathan health care bill that President Obama signed on March 23. It’s hard to remember anything since then to match the congressional bloodletting the bill caused, or its lasting national significance. Its passage saved Obama’s presidency and recalibrated the political calculus in Washington, which had been based on its assumed defeat.

If we are dim on all that’s in the bill, we were blind to the machinations behind the scenes that led to its rise and fall and rise again. To achieve victory, Obama had to cut unsavory deals. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Anyone remotely interested in big-time, hardball legislative politics should watch “Obama’s Deal’’ tonight at 9 on WGBH-TV (Channel 2) to see how the president got his bill.

“Frontline’’ delivers the goods. It gives us the large themes and nasty fights that dominated Capitol Hill over the past year. We hear from a legion of smart insiders, journalists, and politicians, from every angle of the action. Veteran documentarian Mike Kirk, who wrote, directed, and coproduced this story, has done it again.

The deals really were ugly. One involved an $80 billion closed-door pact between Obama and the top pharmaceutical industry lobbyist, a pact to lower drug costs that critics charge was entirely too soft on the industry. Then came the $100 million deal to benefit Senator Ben Nelson’s home state of Nebraska to secure his vote.

The threads in this story are fascinating ...

A little too sympathetic of a review.

Here's hoping Frontline's program is less so. The website is here.

Britney Spears Un-Airbrushed

Some unexpected Britney blogging, from the Daily Mail, "Britney Spears bravely agrees to release un-airbrushed images of herself next to the digitally-altered versions":

Celebrities and the industry around them is often accused of producing images that affect young people's body image.

Which is why it's so refreshing to see one of the world's most famous pop stars allowing all of their imperfections to be highlighted.

Britney Spears has allowed the pre-airbrushed images from a shoot she took part in for fashion firm Candie's to be used ALONGSIDE the digitally-altered ones, so people can see the difference ....

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: 'Britney is proud of her body - imperfections and all.'

Of the experience, the singer told press: 'I had so much fun shooting the Candies for Kohl's campaign. My favorite set-up was against the gigantic wall of pink cotton candy.'

And she added: 'I got to wear the cutest clothes and they are perfect for summer!'

Check out the whole thing, at the link.

Liquor Store Burglary FAIL

Via AOSHQ:

Julian Assange Bald-Faced Lies on Colbert Report -- UPDATED!!

I actually got back up at 11:30pm to watch it, and hey, give credit to Stephen Colbert, who calls out WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange. At about 3:00 minutes, Colbert complains, "the Reuters photographers, who were regrettably killed, were not identified as photographers -- and you edited this tape, and you have given it a title, called " Collateral Murder." That's not leaking, that's a pure editorial." And then, in a comedic vein, Colbert repudiates Assange as "manipulating" the video, etc. ...

Then check out Assange, who continues his malicious campaign of deception. Jawa Report has the rundown, "Colbert Owns Wiki Leak (Video Added)":

Wow, what a liar Julian Assange is. Again, lying by omissions and slight of hand. Maybe the word "RPG" wasn't used before the go signal for firing on the insurgents, that might technically be true. But go watch the [WikiLeaks] video below again ...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Julian Assange
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

More Jawa Report at the link.

**********

UPDATE: Lots of folks reporting on this one today See, Jules Crittenden, "“Collateral Murder”":

“Purposeful Character Assassination” might be a better title for what Wikileaks is attempting on the United States military. It’s an all too familiar story. Most remarkable is the fact that, all these years in, anyone is viewing this as anything but a prurient effort to shock and disparage that is utterly lacking anything but the most damning, emotionally charged context, by people who admit that is their intention and who do not appear to know what they are talking about.

More from Ed Morrissey, via Memeorandum.

Tiny Fey Sarah Palin Reprise

Did you stay up on Saturday night? Worth a second look in any case:

Bulletin Board Defacement -- Leftist 'Tolerance' at LBCC!

One of my awesome colleagues in the Department of Political Science was extremely thoughtful and kind in fetching the bulletin boards from the old department across Carson Street and then mounting them for faculty members in our new building. This was March 25 and 26, a Thursday and Friday. I set mine up that Friday. I attached red poster paper over the bulletin board, and stapled a "Political Science" badge at top, plus two items: A "Bounce Boxer" Chuck DeVore bumper sticker (given to me at the Chuck DeVore Tea Party Rally in February) and print-out of the "Are You Losing the Debate? Shout Racist! and You Silence the Oppostion." Pleased with that, I was briefly enjoying my new board during the week before Easter break.

Then it turns out I get an e-mail from my division dean informing me of a complaint by a faculty member against my "Bounce Boxer, Devore for U.S. Senate" sticker at the bulletin board. The e-mail came March 31. I'd had the board up for no more than 4 business days and a leftist colleague files a formal complaint! The allegation? It wasn't "scientific" and wasn't "balanced" by opposing views, and was therefore inappropriate. And I'm a professor of politics who's supposed to be encouraging political participation!

But that's not all. I didn't check my e-mail until last weekend, and finding out about the complaint I was anxious to see if my "Bounce Boxer" sticker was still posted. And lo and behold, I return this morning to see the board defaced. I had my camera and took some pictures (and I'll take additional pics tomorrow and replace, since this one's blurry):

I had the DeVore sticker stapled at top left. It's long gone by this time however. So, I visited my dean's office. She came over to take a look and I asked her if she could find out who defaced the board.

And I explained to her: The complaint and defacement violate my First Amendment guarantees. And simply put, no one has any right whatsoever to remove a political bumper sticker with which they disagree. And this is not the first time: Repeatedly, in the old building, newspaper articles on the Bush presidency would be taken down, and articles on Proposition 8 would be defaced (usually with extremely sophisticated comments indicative of one trained in LGBT discources, i.e., faculty). I told, my dean most of all, if someone had issues with my political view, they should take it up with me. To do otherwise is harassment and a violation of my freedom of speech and equal protection.

And after my dean left, I went down the hall to check the bulletin board of my Marxist historian colleague. Posted there is information for the History Department's "Community Studies Project":

Notice there at bottom/left, the trademark ANSWER L.A. coffins and "Stop the War" slogan. This is a print-out of ANSWER's flyer for the March 20 protest:

Seen here:

And here at 30 seconds:

Such communist literature, posters, and propaganda has been plastered all over the History and Political Science hallways for years -- and no one's every complained. And faculty routinely recruit student to attend the protests, even organizing bus transportation. Democratic candidates are constantly promoted, and literature for Al Gore 2000 and John Kerry 2004 festooned the walls in past years. Go into any sociology classroom and student poster-board projects on "racism," "sexism," "genocide," blah, blah, cover the walls.

But one "Bounce Boxer" bumper sticker? Nope. Verboten. You just can't deviate from the leftist narrative.

So, this time I'm not backing down. The complainant invoked "anonymity," so this is not only an attack on my rights, but a cowardly one. I will follow up with my vice president of human resources. This is supposed to be a college of academic professionals and an institution of higher learning. We're commissioned with opening minds to critical inquiry and training youth for the competition of ideas. And what do you have? Democratic and radical antiwar professors who censor and suppress conservative views, rather than defend their ideas. And remember, we're talking about a darned bumper sticker!

Expect updates. (And I'll proofread this post in the morning. I'm going to bed. Done.)

RELATED: At CQ Politics, "Boxer’s Fight in California."

Hiro Muramoto: Last Footage of Thai Protests

Japanese photographer Hiro Muramoto was killed while covering the anti-government protests in Thailand. At Sky News, "Cameraman's Last Thai Footage Before Death":

Extraordinary footage taken by a cameraman of shocking violence in the Bangkok riots, moments before he was shot dead, has been released.

The guy had a wife and kids:

RELATED: A CFR, "Reform, Not Revolution, for Thailand."

Also, at Instapundit, "SHOCKING NEWS FROM THAILAND: Firsthand Account of Thai ‘Red Shirt’ Violence: Yes, MSM Got It Wrong," and, FWIW, NYT, "Opposition Appears to Gain in Thai Crisis." (Via Memeorandum.)

Holocaust Memorial Day

I called the Museum of Tolerance yesterday to see if I'd need advanced ticket to make a visit. The recording said this was the busiest time of year, and now I can see why: Today's Holocaust Memorial Day ...

And some coverage at the Boston Globe, "Holocaust Lessons Stated Anew: Services Emphasize Preserving Memory." And from BBC, "Israel stops for Holocaust Memorial Day tribute."

RELATED: At BCF, "There are Israelis and there are North American diaspora Jews..."

Star Treatment? Julian Assange on Colbert Tonight

From the guy who's 2006 roast of President Bush was widely panned as deeply disrespectful to both the man and the institution:

I stand by this man. I stand by this man, because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things, things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo-ops in the world.

Then this is no surprise, "Colbert to Interview Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Tonight."

Star treatment for a convicted computer hacker and discredited communist. Nope. Our mainstream "entertainers" cavorting with anti-Americans. No surprise at all.

RELATED: From Kathy Shaidle, at NewsReal, "Wikileaks' 'Iraq: Collateral Murder' Video 'Doesn't Show the Broader Picture'."

Josh Stieber: Keffiyeh-Clad WikiLeaks Useful Idiot

Josh Stieber is featured at AlterNet, "Iraq Vet From WikiLeaks Video Unit: 'This Is What War Looks Like'":

Josh Stieber was not on the mission over Baghdad that day. By then he had already begun questioning the actions he was being asked to carry out in Iraq; he had refused an order from his commanding officers a few days earlier -- "a command that I didn't feel right in following," as he told Glenn Greenwald on Friday -- and he was kept behind. Otherwise, he said, "I would have been in that video."

AlterNet's Liliana Segura spoke with Stieber over the phone on Sunday night about his reaction to the video, the response from the Pentagon, and why the Iraq Veterans Against the War member has devoted himself to speaking out.

RTWT at the link.

And recall who you're identifying with by donning a keffiyeh:

New Questions Plague WikiLeaks 'Collateral Murder' Allegations

See, "WikiLeak Miscaptions Photos, Misleads Public."

WikiLeaks claims this picture was the second to the last photo taken by Reuters cameraman Namir Noor-Eldeen. And Reuters published it "28 months ago," with this caption:

RNPS PICTURES OF THE YEAR - One of the last pictures taken by Reuters Iraqi photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen before he was killed on July 12, 2007 shows two old women dressed in black walking towards a window pierced by a bullet in the al-Amin al-Thaniyah neighbourhood of Baghdad. U.S. soldiers took Noor-Eldeen's two digital cameras from the scene after he was killed. The military returned them to Reuters on Sunday.

Check Jawa Report for the rundown. There's a lot wrong here, and especially the fact that the streets were completely empty of civilians and children during the time of the Apache firefight. Not only that, the Pentagon published some of the final Reuters pictures that day, but none featuring adjacent humvees. Different scenarios can be hypothesized. Recall this image from the Pentagon's investigation:

WikiLeaks whole delegitimation campaign's supposed to be about getting at the truth. Not funny, but that's a lie. Whatever explains the discrepancies between the various published photos, the fact remains that -- as we've seen over and over again -- context kills the "Collateral Murder" smear campaign.

See also, "WikiLeaks’ Theories Are Full of Holes."

U. of Minnesota Student Paper Says 'Thank You, WikiLeaks'

At MNDaily, the student newspaper at the University of Minnesota, "Thank You for the Truth, WikiLeaks: War Itself, Not WikiLeaks, is a Threat to American National Security":

The real threat to national security is not, as some military intelligence officials charge, WikiLeaks or even individual whistle-blowers. These actors risk their livelihoods to give the democratic public the truth it needs to arrive at sane policy, however unlikely. The real threats to American security are the wars themselves; may we never live to see our benevolence reciprocated.

As the behavior in this WikiLeak illustrates, America’s futile nation building project, responsible now for the lives of 100,000 civilians, will do little more than ignite outright hatred among the families bereaved by American arms.

I somehow sense it's not "truth" the editors are after, but another chance to put down America's "evil, racist neo-imperial war-machine," blah, blah ...

Hypocrisy of the 'Tolerant' Left

At Left Coast Rebel, "Sarah Palin Derangement Syndrome or the Hypocrisy of the 'Tolerant' Left?"

Perhaps it is a case of both. Boston talk show host Michael Graham found a contest of Sarah Palin 'signs' to commemorate her appearance at a Boston Tea Party event on April 14.

Then LCR points us to the Weekly Dig, with this "winning" submission at left. And the editors note:

Known only as "g80", the winner of our Palin protest sign contest delivers the perfect balance of humor, striking protest design and good old fashioned WTF appeal. Keep your ears open for details on Palin's Boston visit on 4/14.

"Perfect balance"?

Yeah. Right.

As I've said many times: Nothing, and I do mean nothing, matches the extreme hate and secular demonology on the left.

See more of the "entries" at Michael Graham, "An Angry Progressive’s Picture Is Worth A Thousand “Angry, Right-Wing” Words," and Gateway Pundit, "Hateful East Coast Leftists Attack Sarah Palin Before Her Boston Rally… Media Silent." (Via Memeorandum.)

Guess the Zionist?

I'll give readers a preview, but the full entry is at Jawa Report, "Guess the Zionist Boobies Fifth Edition."

EXIT QUESTION: How would post-colonial feminists respond to Zionist bikini models?