Apology Tour

I remember Soledad O'Brien trying to weasel out of the history of Obama's apology tour in September. She was interviewing Rep. Peter King of New York, at the time of Obama's Libya debacle. She had the Cairo speech transcript and kept saying, "He never once used the word apology," blah, blah ... So I looked it up at the time, because the idiots at Think Progress, the anti-Israel Soros-backed hate-site, were issuing the exact same denials. The definitive piece is at the Heritage Foundation, "Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower."

And so now the issue's in the news again. Mitt Romney slammed Obama for his craven world apology tour at the Boca Raton debate. And Jennifer Rubin has a report, "The myth of the myth of apologies":

You can argue that sometimes a nation should apologize for some past conduct. You can argue that this is appropriate, but not on foreign soil. But to insist that Obama hasn’t apologized repeatedly for the United States both here and abroad is simply wrong. Frankly, he has done more of this self-flagellation in more places than any other president. It is a record that should never be broken.

And see Gateway Pundit, "Mitt Romney Camp Releases “Apology Tour”."

IMAGE CREDIT: The Looking Spoon, "Obama Did Not Go On An Apology Tour..."

Emails Show White House Briefed on Benghazi Terrorism in Real Time — Ansar al-Sharia Claimed Responsibility

At ABC News, "Email Alerts Describe 9/11 Benghazi Consulate Assault Unfolding" (via Memeorandum):

A series of email alerts sent as Obama administration officials monitored the attack on the U.S consulate in Benghazi last month are the latest to shine light on the chaotic events that culminated in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The names of the individual recipients of the emails, first reported by CBS News but independently obtained by ABC News Tuesday evening, are redacted. A source who requested anonymity said it appears they are sent by the State Department Operations Center to distribution lists and email accounts for the top national security officials at the State Department, Pentagon, the FBI, the White House Situation Room and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

And that's a compelling interview with Sarah Palin at the clip. I haven't seen her this animated ---- literally angry ---- in quite some time. Here's Greta's report, "BREAKING NEWS: Emails show the Obama administration knew Ansar al Sharia was behind the attack in Benghazi."

And at London's Daily Mail, "White House knew al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for deadly Libya attack just TWO HOURS later, emails reveal."

And check out this devastating piece at Youngstown News out of Ohio, "Lies being told about attack in Benghazi":

It was a little much when President Barack Obama said that he was ”offended” by the suggestion that his administration would try to deceive the public about what happened in Benghazi. What has this man not deceived the public about?

Remember his pledge to cut the deficit in half in his first term in office? This was followed by the first trillion dollar deficit ever, under any President of the United States — followed by trillion dollar deficits in every year of the Obama administration.

Remember his pledge to have a ”transparent” government that would post its legislative proposals on the Internet several days before Congress was to vote on them....

As for what happened in Libya, the Obama administration says that there is an ”investigation” under way. An ”on-going investigation” sounds so much better than ”stonewalling” to get past election day. But you can bet the rent money that this ”investigation” will not be completed before election day. And whatever the investigation says after the election will be irrelevant.

The events unfolding in Benghazi on the tragic night of Sept. 11 were being relayed to the State Department as the attacks were going on, ”in real time,” as they say. So the idea that the Obama administration now has to carry out a time-consuming ”investigation” to find out what those events were, when the information was immediately available at the time, is a little much.

The full story of what happened in Libya, down to the last detail, may never be known. But, as someone once said, you don’t need to eat a whole egg to know that it is rotten. And you don’t need to know every detail of the events before, during and after the attacks to know that the story put out by the Obama administration was a fraud.

The administration’s initial story that what happened in Benghazi began as a protest against an anti-Islamic video in America was a very convenient theory. The most obvious alternative explanation would have been devastating to Barack Obama’s much heralded attempts to mollify and pacify Islamic nations in the Middle East.

To have helped overthrow pro-Western governments in Egypt and Libya, only to bring anti-Western Islamic extremists to power would have been revealed as a foreign policy disaster of the first magnitude. To have been celebrating President Obama’s supposedly heroic role in the killing of Osama bin Laden, with the implication that al-Qaida was crippled, would have been revealed as a farce.

Osama bin Laden was by no means the first man to plan a surprise attack on America and later be killed. Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto planned the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II, and he was later tracked down and shot down in a plane that was carrying him.

Neither the Los Angeles Times nor the New York Times had this breaking at their websites as of 10:15pm Pacific time, as this post was being scheduled for overnight, although Huffington Post and Reuters had the news. I'll have more on this later.

It becomes clearer by the day. The administration's been covering things up all along, and lying remorselessly. Conservatives are hammering the White House. While progressives are enabling the cover up with denials and obfuscation. We'll see how things play out for the remainder of the day. It's not going to be pretty, that's for sure.

Obama Crashing in Ohio; or, For the Love of Mercy, Leave Nate Silver Alone!

While the story's another gut-buster with respect to New York Times wonder boy Nate Silver, there's some serious implications here. But more on that after checking in with Robert Stacy McCain, "Signs and Omens: Obama’s Fading Hope and the Graveyard Whistling Choir":

Nate Silver continues to lead the Democrat Graveyard Whistling Choir, raising Obama to a 70.3% likelihood of victory based on . . . what?

I dunno. I’m not an expert with a New York Times column or anything, much less a Magical Forecasting Model™ that can divine future events with the precise scientific exactitude of 1/10 of one percent.

This morning, Silver told us that Ohio might be a crucial battleground, which might be news to a victim who just escaped from an underground rape-dungeon after nine months of being held hostage and tortured by a sociopathic sex offender. But to everyone else, it’s not news at all.

My apologies for the bizarre word-imagery. Debate-night aftermath, a shortage of sleep and other psychological stress sometimes have this effect on my prose. But don’t worry. After 24 debates in 16 months, I’m used to it by now. And speaking of bizarre word-imagery, Ace of Spades:

“It’s going to be a grim affair, grim and horrible and just sad, but there’ll be lots of alcohol.”

That’s in reaction to unmistakable evidence of doom and gloom in Obama’s increasingly desperate fundraising e-mails. The plural of “anecdote” is data, as they say, and you don’t need a Magical Forecasting Model™ to see the dots in this emerging gestalt pattern, including the Gloria Allred “October surprise” gambit. Never heard a peep about this until after Obama got his ass kicked in the first debate, did ya?

Keep reading.

I love that part about how silver claims Ohio "might be a crucial battleground..." I guess he's not even reading the big horse-race journalism at his own home-station newspaper. As I reported at the beginning of September, "Ohio Is Ultimate Battleground State." Cited there is a New York Times piece suggesting that Mitt Romney was facing a vital, can't-do-without test in the Buckeye State. Amazing how perceptions have turned around. Now it's Obama who's the one with the ultimate test in Ohio. See Michael Knox Beran, at National Review, "Obama Unnerved — by Ohio?":

Talk about the sullen presage of a campaign’s decay. Something was wrong with President Obama last night, to judge by his performance. Was Ohio on his mind? An AP story says that the Obama campaign is now talking about a way to win without taking the state....

That the Obama camp is even talking about losing Ohio is a stunning turn of events.

No wonder, then, that Romney seemed like the man who was winning last night. When he spoke, you thought “energy in the executive.” When Obama spoke, the words that came to mind were “fatigue,” “apathy,” “frustration.” In his closing statement the president was clearly rattled, lamely reciting talking points we’ve heard too often before, not even pretending to care about what he was saying — simply wanting it to be over. It was as though a light had gone out. Was he disconcerted by the smoothness of Romney’s performance? Or is his campaign’s internal polling in Ohio less pretty than his people are letting on?

And check this great piece from Daniel Horowitz, at Red State, "The Current Electoral College State of Play":

Two weeks before Election Day, all signs point to this being a very tight election. Romney clearly seized the momentum with his debate win two weeks ago – one which Obama failed to stop with his stronger performance last week. Most national polls show Romney with a 2-3 point lead; however, the state polls show an even tighter race.

One thing has not changed in terms of the Electoral College; the election will still boil down to Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. However, there is one major development over the past two weeks that has strengthened Romney’s hand in the Electoral College. The national surge in support for Romney has created such strong momentum in Florida, Virginia, and Colorado – both in the top line numbers and internal numbers – that it’s hard to see him losing any of those states.

So who cares? Well, once we allow for the assumption that Romney wins those three states, it is absolutely impossible – not just improbable – for Obama to win the election without Ohio. Even if he were to run the table in the rest of the battleground states (NH, IA, NV, and WI), he would still come up short. Take a look at how that would work.

Perforce, Obama cannot win without Ohio.

Continue reading.

PREVIOUSLY:

* "Nate Silver Calls It: Advantage Obama!"

* "Nate Silver's Flawed Model."

* "Boom! Romney Back Up 52-45 in Gallup's Daily Tracking of Likely Voters."

* "ABC News Touts Nate Silver's Prediction That Obama's Handicapped at 68 Percent Chance to Win!"

* "'It's becoming increasingly obvious that Silver can't be taken seriously...'"

* "Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race."

More later...

British Bride-to-Be Snubbed by Stoke Park Hotel as Wrong 'Type of People' is Adult Star on 'Red Light Central TV'

An amazing story.

I saw this the other day and thought it interesting, at Telegraph UK, "Not the right 'type of people': Bride and groom 'humiliated' after wedding email blunder":

A bride-to-be was left “humiliated” after trying to book an exclusive hotel for her £10,000 dream wedding, and instead receiving an email saying she and her fiance were not the right "type of people".

But now here's the update, "Bride-to-be snubbed in 'wrong type of people' hotel row is part-time glamour model":

When a five-star hotel sent Pauline Bailey an email saying that she and her fiancé were “not the type of people we want here”, she pointed to her partner’s pierced eyebrow as a possible explanation for the snub.

It emerged yesterday that Miss Bailey, 27, had not been entirely forthcoming about her own background while insisting that she and Paul Carty, 51, were “a respectable, middle-class, hard-working, well-educated couple”.

Although Miss Bailey does, as she pointed out, have a master’s degree in medical law and plans to study for a PhD, she failed to mention that she also works part-time as a glamour model on a late-night soft-porn television channel.

Calling herself “Rachel T”, she wears skimpy outfits as she takes live premium-rate phone calls from men watching her on Red Light Central TV.

Miss Bailey, from Luton, had described herself as “mortified” to receive the email from the wedding planner at the Stoke Park Hotel in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. She said that she and Mr Carty were left feeling like “undesirables” after Michele Connelly accidentally forwarded the message, in which she asked her boss how she could “put off” their wedding.

Yesterday, Miss Bailey confirmed that she had been working as a glamour model for five years.

Not to be outdone, London's Daily Mail has photos, "The bride who's not exactly blushing! Law graduate snubbed by wedding hotels turns out to be star of adult TV."

Well, I guess it pays to follow up on those intriguing news reports!

Nate Silver Calls It: Advantage Obama!

The suspense is over!

Wonder boy Nate Silver delivers the snap analysis, "Obama Unlikely to Get Big Debate Bounce, but a Small One Could Matter."

There is, obviously, some disagreement on the magnitude of Mr. Obama’s advantage — the polls surveyed different types of voters and applied different methods to do so.

But averaging the results from the CBS News, CNN and Google polls, which conducted surveys after all three presidential debates along with the one between the vice-presidential candidates, puts Mr. Obama’s margin at 16 points.

That compares favorably to Mr. Obama’s average 10-point margin after the second debate, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s 6-point margin against Representative Paul Ryan, but is smaller than Mr. Romney’s average 29-point win in Denver.

So that improves Obama chances in the Electoral College by a gazillion-ty times!!

PREVIOUSLY: "Nate Silver's Flawed Model."

BONUS: "'Horses and Bayonets'", and "Charles Krauthammer: 'Romney Went Large; Obama Went Very, Very Small — Almost Shockingly Small ...'."

IMAGE CREDIT: Horses and Bayonets Tumblr.

Boca Raton Presidential Debate — FULL VIDEO

Here's William Jacobson's comments, "Best Tweets of the Final Debate — Romney as The President, Obama as desperate challenger":

This was a strange debate. It was as if Romney were the incumbent and Obama was the challenger. I felt that Romney was running out the clock from the start, trying not to make any gaffes, proving he is worldly and reasonable.

Obama was the aggressor, both in words and demeanor. To that extent, Obama scored “points” but not points that ultimately make a difference.

If Obama’s job was to disqualify Romney as a potential President, someone too reckless for the job, Obama completely failed. Which means that for Romney, tonight was Mission Accomplished.

Tonight’s debate will not change the trajectory of the election, and that is good for Romney.

And see Michelle Malkin on Twitter:

Romney: "I'll get people working again. American can come back. This nation is the hope of the earth. Take the torch of freedom."
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 23, 2012

That's why Mitt Romney killed this debate. He's optimistic and looking toward the future. He affirms America's greatness, with no apologies. He's hopeful and not stuck on bemoaning the "policies that got us into to this mess in the first place," like a bleedin' crybaby, unable to lead. Romney's championing the policies that will get us out of it. The election can't come to soon. The American people are going to send O on a long golfing retirement.

PREVIOUSLY: "'Horses and Bayonets'", and "Charles Krauthammer: 'Romney Went Large; Obama Went Very, Very Small — Almost Shockingly Small ...'"

Charles Krauthammer: 'Romney Went Large; Obama Went Very, Very Small — Almost Shockingly Small ...'

Sir Charles eviscerates O's performance:

PREVIOUSLY: "'Horses and Bayonets'."

'Horses and Bayonets'

At Twitchy, "Obama compares naval ships to horses and bayonets; Twitter explodes in snark-storm; Marines fact check Obama."

Also at CNN, "TRENDING: ‘Horses and bayonets’ shows Obama's debate strategy" (via Memeorandum).

Plus, "CNN Poll: Nearly half of debate watchers say Obama won showdown."

Great, that's what they said about the second debate at Hofstra --- that Obama won, and Romney kept surging in the polls anyway. The buzz tonight says that the debate won't change the basic trajectory of the race, which is bad news for President Eye Candy. He needed to put Romney away. He sure gave it his all, although he inadvertently revealed that his primary debate strategy was the Joe "Blowhard" Biden model of bluster and bulls*t.

He was really that bad. Folks are zeroing in, for example, on "THE STARE"!! See, "There’s that laser-like focus: Obama ‘death stare’ is the new Biden smirk."

ADDED: At Big Government, "CNN Poll: More Voters Likely to Switch to Romney."

Nate Silver's Flawed Model

From Josh Jordan, at National Review, "The New York Times number cruncher lets his partisanship show":

“Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that.” — Homer Simpson.

In the days before the first debate in Denver, President Obama held more than a four-point lead in the Real Clear Politics average, and Romney had been left for dead by most of the media. Then the debate came, and overnight Romney seemingly rid himself of the weaknesses that had been tacked on to him by over $100 million dollars in negative advertising. Now here we are a few weeks later with a dead heat in nationwide polls.

As worry built up among Democrats that Romney had tied the race nationally and had clear momentum heading into the final stretch, they began attaching their hopes to what BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith called “the bulwark against all-out Dem panic” — Nate Silver.

Silver gained fame by correctly predicting 49 of 50 states in the 2008 election using a statistical model that assigns weight to the various polls based on a number of factors. After the 2008 election, Silver partnered with the New York Times, and he has been quoted by many media outlets as the gold standard for predicting what will happen in November.

Some note that 2008 was a wave election, where the enthusiasm and underlying fundamentals were so favorable to Obama that the outcome was easy to foresee, with the exception of a few of the GOP-turned-Democratic states such as Indiana and North Carolina where Obama won a razor-thin victory. Others argue that Silver’s access to the Obama administration’s internal polling gave him information that most other analysts never saw, which allowed him to make more adjustments to his model and increase his accuracy.

Whatever the explanation, Silver’s strong showing in the 2008 election, coupled with his consistent predictions that Obama will win in November, has given Democrats a reason for optimism. While there is nothing wrong with trying to make sense of the polls, it should be noted that Nate Silver is openly rooting for Obama, and it shows in the way he forecasts the election.

Oh, he's "openly rooting" for Obama alright. He's practically giving the president fellato by predictive ratio. But read it all at the link (via Jonathan Tobin).

You know, Silver's really getting to know the inside of that woodshed, like the back of his hand!

PREVIOUSLY:

* "Boom! Romney Back Up 52-45 in Gallup's Daily Tracking of Likely Voters."

* "ABC News Touts Nate Silver's Prediction That Obama's Handicapped at 68 Percent Chance to Win!"

* "'It's becoming increasingly obvious that Silver can't be taken seriously...'"

* "Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race."

I'll have more on this later.

I hesitate to call this series the "Nate Silver suicide watch." I mean, gosh, I'd feel horrible for the wonder boy if something bad happened to him after November 6th.

'Obama was presented as unbeatable, and a lot of people believed it — until, suddenly, he looked kind of beatable after all...'

From Glenn Reynolds' new column, at USA Today, "Will cocooned liberals be surprised by Romney?"

Actually, I doubt Obama's progressive fascists will be surprised. They're already pledging to burn down the White House if Romney wins. And I imagine we'll be seeing more fascist violence, like today's vicious attack on Mitt Romney supporter Sean Kedzie, the son of Wisconsin State Senator Neal Kedzie, a Republican.

The writing's on the wall.

Don't back down to the progressive thugs. Stand up to them. Get in their faces. And hit back twice as hard if you're attacked.

Hot Momma! Natalie Portman Smokin' Film Set Photos From New Terrence Malick Movie

Another round of pre-debate Rule 5, via London's Daily Mail, "Hot momma! Natalie Portman sizzles on the set of her latest film as she cozies up to Michael Fassbender."

And recall that Ms. Portman was my original Rule 5 hottie, "Natalie Portman Gets Results!"

Even Robert Stacy McCain was impressed, "Natalie Portman on a slim pretext."

And speaking of the Other McCain, from yesterday, "Rule 5 Sunday: Pulchritudinous Power Hour."

I'll have some post-debate analysis later...

Son of Wisconsin State Senator Neal Kedzie Attacked by Anti-Romney Fascists!

Obama fascists.

Obama criminals and fascists.

When you can't win on the merits, resort to violence and intimidation. The the progressive fascists of the Obama left for you. The assholes. You have to stand up to these people. Say a prayer with me for Sean Kedzie, the son of Republican State Senator Neal Kedzie of Wisconsin.

Rebel Pundit Reports, at Big Government, "WISCONSIN SENATOR'S SON BEATEN TO PULP BY ANTI-ROMNEY THUGS" (via Memeorandum). And at Gateway Pundit, "OBAMA GOONS Beat Crap Out of Son of Wisconsin Senate Republican."

And see WMTV-NBC 15, Madison, Wisconsin, "Son of State Senator Neal Kedzie Attacked":

State Senator Neal Kedzie says his son was attacked while trying to stop someone from stealing his Romney/Ryan yard sign.

Whitewater Police tell NBC15 News this is an active investigation.

Here is the statement released by Senator Neal Kedzie:

Early on Friday morning, October 19th, my son Sean was awakened by noises outside his residence in Whitewater. As he went to see what the commotion was about, he noticed an individual removing a Romney/Ryan yard sign from his property. He yelled to the person that they were taking something not theirs and to return it immediately.

The individual returned the sign, however, a second person confronted and attacked Sean without warning.

Sean was wrestled to the ground by both persons, held down by a constricting chokehold, and struck repeatedly about the face and head.

He nearly passed out from the chokehold and suffered contusions to his face and eyes.

Fortunately, an alert neighbor heard the commotion, scared the individuals away, and called the police.

More at the link.

Colorado: Romney 50%, Obama 46%

At Rasmussen:

Mitt Romney has now reached the 50% mark for the first time in Colorado and leads President Obama by four in the critical swing state.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Colorado Voters finds Romney with 50% support to Obama’s 46%. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate, and one percent (1%) remains undecided....

Still, Colorado remains a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections. But Colorado is the fourth swing state that has moved in Romney’s direction in the past week. Florida, Missouri and North Carolina have now shifted from Toss-Up to Leans Romney.

Yeah, well, the biggest worry is Ohio, but things are looking up there for the Republicans. See the New York Times, "Ohio Race Tightens in New Poll" (via Memeorandum). That's the Times' Quinnipiac, which is oversampling Democrats. Here's Rasmussen from two days ago: "Election 2012: Ohio President - Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 48%." That's probably more like it, and we've still got election day, and the Romney ground game enthusiasm to factor in.

BONUS: A new ad from the Romney campaign: "The Clear Choice For Colorado."

Boom! Romney Back Up 52-45 in Gallup's Daily Tracking of Likely Voters

It's been a week since the Hoftra debate --- the "how dare you imply that my administration lied" debate --- and President Eye Candy's numbers are going in the wrong direction. Mitt Romney regained a point in the daily tracking, again up 52 to 45 percent in the presidential horse race. Somewhere Nate Silver is cowering in shame.

See: "Election 2012 Likely Voters Trial Heat: Obama vs. Romney - Among likely voters."

RELATED: At Politico, "Battleground Tracking Poll: Mitt Romney takes lead" (at Memeorandum):

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney has taken a narrow national lead, tightened the gender gap and expanded his edge over President Barack Obama on who would best grow the economy.

A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll of 1,000 likely voters — taken from Sunday through Thursday of last week — shows Romney ahead of Obama by two points, 49 to 47 percent. That represents a three-point swing in the GOP nominee’s direction from a week ago but is still within the margin of error. Obama led 49 percent to 48 percent the week before.

Romney has not led in the poll since the beginning of May.

Across the 10 states identified by POLITICO as competitive, Romney leads 50 to 48 percent.

See also Ed Morrissey, "Romney edges into 49/47 lead in Politico/GWU Battleground poll."

More later...

Uh Oh. The New York Times Goes Critical With Front-Page Libya Report on Debate Day

Early in my reporting on the cover up I noted that the news would be getting so bad for the White House that even Obama's staunchest enablers in the press wouldn't long be able to defend him.

The New York Times isn't quite there yet, but it's close.

See, "Explanation for Benghazi Attack Under Scrutiny":

WASHINGTON — Even as Susan E. Rice took to the Sunday talk shows last month to describe the Obama administration’s assessment of the Sept. 11 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, intelligence analysts suspected that the explanation was outdated.

Ms. Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has said that the judgments she offered on the five talk shows on Sept. 16 came from talking points prepared by the C.I.A., which reckoned that the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans had resulted from a spontaneous mob that was angry about an anti-Islamic video that had set off protests elsewhere. That assessment, described to Ms. Rice in briefings the day before her television appearances, was based on intercepted communications, informants’ tips and Libyan press reports, officials said.

Later that Sunday, though, American intelligence analysts were already sifting through new field reports that seemed to contradict the initial assessment. It would be several days, however, before the intelligence agencies changed their formal assessment based on those new reports, and informed administration officials about the change. Intelligence officials say such a lag is typical of the ever-changing process of piecing together shards of information into a coherent picture fit for officials’ public statements.

Gov. Mitt Romney and Congressional Republicans have sharply criticized Ms. Rice’s comments and the administration’s shifting public positions on the cause of the attack, criticisms that Mr. Romney will probably reprise in the final presidential debate on Monday night.

On Sunday, Congressional Republicans cited the administration’s response to the attack as symptomatic of larger leadership failings. “This is going to be a case study, studied for years, of a breakdown of national security at every level, failed presidential leadership — senior members of the Obama administration failed miserably,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The gap between the talking points prepared for Ms. Rice and the contemporaneous field reports that seemed to paint a much different picture illustrates how the process of turning raw field reports, which officials say need to be vetted and assessed, into polished intelligence assessments can take days, long enough to make them outdated by the time senior American officials utter them.

Intelligence officials, alarmed that their work has been turned into a political football, defend their approach, noting that senior administration officials receive daily briefings that reflect the consensus of the nation’s array of intelligence agencies, but can also dip into the fast-moving stream of field reports, with the caveat that that information is incomplete and may be flat wrong.

“A demand for an explanation that is quick, definite and unchanging reflects a naïve expectation — or in the present case, irresponsible politicking,” James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, said at an intelligence symposium on Oct. 9.

The Associated Press reported Friday, for instance, that within 24 hours of the attack, the C.I.A.’s station chief in Tripoli, Libya, e-mailed headquarters that witnesses said the assault was mounted by heavily armed militants. But intelligence officials said Sunday that one report was not enough to establish the attack’s nature.

More at that top link.

It's damaging just having this story in the news day after day, with back and forth explanations for why the administration can't keep its story lines straight. After a while the average person wises up to being deceived. The Democrat-Media-Complex can sustain the lies for only so long. And this stuff is on the front page at the nation's paper of record on the day of the final debate on foreign policy. Can you say high stakes? There's even more on A1, "Benghazi and Arab Spring Rear Up in U.S. Campaign." "Rears up" alright. Rears up its ugly head. The administration's foreign policy has completely deconstructed, violently. By now it's all about attempting to maintain perceptions of control. Hey, how's that going for you, Baracky? Here's that Dorothy Rabinowitz piece, ICYMI, "The Unreality of the Past Four Years."

PREVIOUSLY: "Leftists Tout Politically-Driven Intelligence Revisions on Obama's Benghazi Massacre Clusterf-k."

The Obama White House in Crisis Mode

From Dorothy Rabinowitz, at the Wall Street Journal, "The Unreality of the Past Four Years":

In the 1967 film "A Guide for the Married Man," a husband, played by a peerless Walter Matthau, is given lessons in ways to cheat on his wife safely. The most essential rule: "Deny! Deny! Deny!"—no matter what. In an instructive scene, he's shown a wife undone by shock, and screaming, with reason: She has just walked in on her husband making love to a glamorous stranger.

"What are you doing," she wails, "who is that woman?"

"What woman, where?" the husband serenely counters, as he and the tart in question get out of bed and calmly dress.

So the scene proceeds, with the distraught wife pointing to the woman she clearly sees before her, while her husband, unruffled, continues to look blankly at her, asking, "What woman?" Confused by her spouse's unblinking assurance, she gives up. Two minutes later she's asking him what he'd like for dinner.

For much of the past four years, the Obama administration's propensity for asserting views of reality wildly at odds with those evident to most rational citizens has looked increasingly like a page from that film script.

All administrations conceal, falsify and tell lies—this is understood—but there's no missing the distinctive quality of the prevaricating issuing from the White House in these four years.

It's a quality on vivid display now in the administration's mesmerizing narrative of the assault on the U.S. consulate in Libya. Here's a memorable picture, its detail brutally illuminating, of Obama and company in crisis mode over their conflicting stories about who knew what when. The resulting costs to truth-telling and sanity, or even the appearance thereof, are clear. Nor can we forget the strong element of farce—think U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on those five Sunday talk shows, reciting with unflagging fervor that official talking point regarding mob violence and a YouTube video. Farce, but no one is laughing.

I love Rabinowitz. She's a wonderful writer.

Continue reading.

A Migration in Reverse

The most interesting thing about this story is the intense poverty seen in Mexico, where the American kids end up after their illegal immigrant family members get deported.

See, "Caught in the current of reverse migration."

The photos are here, "Teenager’s identity lies on both sides of the border."

Giants Force Game Seven

I watched the entire game after taking most of the day off yesterday from blogging.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Vogelsong Leads Giants Over Cardinals to Force Game 7":

SAN FRANCISCO–Two years ago, Ryan Vogelsong was a Triple-A washout and Barry Zito was a major-league bust. Today, of all people, they are the primary reasons the San Francisco Giants are still alive in the National League Championship Series.

After Zito’s improbable gem spared the Giants elimination in Game 5, Vogelsong continued the pitching revival tour by dominating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 on Sunday night at AT&T Park. He allowed just one run in seven innings in the Giants’ 6-1 win, which tied the best-of-seven series at three games apiece. Game 7 is Monday night in San Francisco.

“I didn’t want to let these guys down,” Vogelsong said. “I didn’t want to let the city down.”

The Giants are a team known for their elite pitching...

Continue reading.

That was one of the most commanding outings I've seen in a long time. The dude was just ringing 'em up, and he pitched a career-high of nine strikeouts. A phenomenal performance.

ABC News Touts Nate Silver's Prediction That Obama's Handicapped at 68 Percent Chance to Win!

My goodness.

The stakes are high, for Nate Silver!

If Obama loses that poor man's world is going to come crashing down, and hard.

And he's so geeky it's hard to watch. If he's fired by the New York Times after the election it's a good bet he won't be landing a job as a television news anchorman. Jeez, did he even wash his hair? Ugh!

PREVIOUSLY: "Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race."

Obama Plays Politics With National Security

It's so transparently political it's ridiculous.

At the Wall Street Journal, "The Iran Talks Gambit":

'This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." That's what President Obama was overheard telling then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March on an open microphone when he thought he was speaking privately. The exchange is worth recalling with the weekend story that the White House has agreed "in principle" to a bilateral meeting with Iran on its nuclear weapons program—after the election.

A White House spokesman immediately denied the New York Times report "that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections." But he added that "we continue to work" with other nations "on a diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally."

We'll go with the New York Times on this one. Someone senior clearly was bragging about the one-on-one deal, and probably because the source or sources thought it would help Mr. Obama. The timing also is suspicious coming before Monday's foreign-policy debate, and while the White House is on defense about its security failures in Benghazi. The Times's dispatch treated the news as a diplomatic breakthrough that could make Mr. Obama look like a peacemaker and put Mitt Romney on the spot. The safe bet is that something is going on that the President hopes to unveil formally after the election.

As with so much else about Mr. Obama's second-term agenda, the question is why he won't elaborate before November 6. On taxes and spending, Mr. Obama doesn't want to say because he knows more of the same economic policies aren't popular...

Most Swing States Have Lost Jobs Since Obama Took Office

At IBD, "Obama Job Losses Hit 7 of 10 Battleground States":

Seven out of the 10 presidential toss-up states have lost jobs since President Obama took office, and the unemployment rate is higher today in six of those states than in January 2009, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What's more, six of those states listed as toss-ups by Real Clear Politics have seen their labor force shrink since January 2009, which masks the true size of their unemployment problem.

The state data underscore the fact that, despite the recent drop in the national unemployment rate to 7.8%, the nation's jobs picture remains bleak, particularly in states that Obama and Mitt Romney are fighting over.

The BLS report notes that in September, 41 states saw unemployment drop compared with August, and 35 states gained payroll jobs.

But the data also show that, since Obama took office, fully 32 states have seen a net decline in the number of jobs, and the unemployment rate is still higher in 27 states than it was in January 2009.

In addition, 24 states saw their labor force shrink since Obama took office. That can make the unemployment rate appear lower in those states, since people who've left the labor force don't count as unemployed.

And several swing states have seen significant declines in their labor force under Obama, which means their employment picture is far worse than advertised.

Ohio's True Picture

Ohio's official unemployment rate for example, is 7%, down from 8.6% when Obama took office. But that decline was entirely due to 193,362 people dropping out of the labor force under Obama — either they quit looking or moved to another state.

Had that drop not occurred, Ohio's unemployment rate would be a staggering 10%. Michigan has suffered the same fate. Its official unemployment rate is down to 9.3% from 11.3% when Obama took office. But the state's jobless rate would be 13.8% if the state's labor force hadn't shrunk by almost a quarter million since January 2009.

RTWT.

The voters aren't fooled by the unemployment numbers. When you're hurtin' you just vote your pocketbook. Lots of folk'll be doing that, and I doubt they'll be voting for "The One."

Romney Surges to Tie Obama in National Poll

The Wall Street Journal's probably been oversampling Democrats. So I'm surprised that Romney's now tied in this latest survey, at least among likely voters. The interesting thing, though, is that the survey was conducted after the so-called debate victory for the president last Tuesday at Hoftra. While he may have won the debate, he's been losing the post-debate spin.

At WSJ (via Memeorandum):

A late surge in support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has put him in a dead heat with President Barack Obama with just over two weeks to go before the election, according to a new nationwide Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday.

Among likely voters, the candidates are now tied, 47% to 47%, in a race that appears on track to be one of the closest in U.S. history.

Mr. Romney has pulled abreast of the president for the first time all year in the Journal poll, erasing a three-point lead among likely voters that Mr. Obama had in late September and a five-point lead earlier that month. Mr. Romney's surge followed his strong debate performance in Denver early this month and a contentious second debate with Mr. Obama last week.

With the contest deadlocked and just 5% of voters undecided, the campaigns will now turn heavily to state-by-state efforts to rouse their base and get out the vote.

The poll found Mr. Romney with a wide lead among men, 53% to 43%, while Mr. Obama continues to maintain an advantage among women, 51% to 43%. Mr. Romney's edge among men has grown over the past month, while Mr. Obama's lead among women has slightly diminished.

The poll of 816 likely voters was taken Oct. 17-20, after last week's presidential debate in New York. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.43 percentage points for likely voters.

More at NBC News and Memeorandum.

George McGovern Has Died

McGovern was further to the left than Lyndon Baines Johnson but somehow still remained a Cold War liberal. His party, however, was becoming a New Left organization grounded in radical theories of anti-Americanism and coercivie economic distribution. The full flowering of that ideology burst forth during the Iraq War in 2004, when the Democrats in Congress turned on their own country and stabbed in the back the very men and women they sent to war the previous year. Perhaps McGovern, who flew B-24 bombing raids over Germany in World War II, is the last of a breed, a stalwart of modern American liberalism, of the non-communist variety. I'm sure some might say I'm being too generous, but I'll leave it at that. I saw McGovern speak back at Fresno State around 1990. He seemed like a very decent man. (But folks might check Daniel Flynn, at FrontPage Magazine, "How George McGovern and the Left Polarized America.")

At the New York Times, "George McGovern | 1922-2012: George McGovern, a Democratic Presidential Nominee and Liberal Stalwart, Dies at 90" (at Memeorandum).

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Barack Obama and Republican Rival Mitt Romney Prepare for Crucial Third and Final Presidential Debate

At Independent UK:

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney both took a break from the campaign trail this weekend to prepare for tomorrow's third and final presidential debate, their last chance to directly confront each other before millions of TV viewers with polls showing the race deadlocked.

The 90-minute debate in Boca Raton, Florida, focusing on foreign policy comes just 15 days before the November 6 election.

Its moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS News, has listed five subject areas, with more time devoted to the Middle East and terrorism than any other topic.

While the economy has been the dominant theme of the election, foreign policy has attracted renewed media attention in the aftermath of last month's attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Mr Obama had ranked well with the public on his handling of international issues and in fighting terrorism, especially following the death of Osama bin Laden.

But the administration's response to the Libya attack and questions over levels of security at the consulate have given Mr Romney and his Republican allies an issue with which to raise doubts about Mr Obama's foreign policy leadership.

Mr Romney's team has focused on Libya, following reports that Obama's administration could have known early on that militants, not protesters angry over a film produced in the US that ridiculed Islam, launched the attack that killed the US ambassador there.

More at the link.

It's going to be good.

PREVIOUSLY: "Death and Deceit in Benghazi."

Image Credit: The Looking Spoon, "The Two Choices Romney and Obama Represent."

Cover-Up: The Three Benghazi Timelines

I was calling this scandal a cover-up within days of the initial reports. The deceit is so brazen it's almost shocking. Almost. This is the Obama administration after all, and it's fundamentally steeped in corruption. 

From James Rosen at the Wall Street Journal, "Every White House sooner or later succumbs to the temptation to cover up an embarrassment":

If the Obama White House has engaged in a coverup in the Benghazi case, the ostensible motivation would bear some similarity to that of all the president's men in Watergate. Mr. Obama faces a rendezvous with the voters on Nov. 6, and in a race much tighter than the Nixon-McGovern contest of 1972. In such a circumstance, certain kinds of disclosure are always unwelcome.

As with the Watergate conspirators, who were eager to conceal earlier actions that related to the Vietnam War, the Obama team is determined to portray its pre-9/11 conduct, and particularly its dovish Mideast policies, in the most favorable light. After all, no one wants to have on his hands—even if resulting from sins of omission and not commission—the deaths of four American patriots. Or as Mr. Obama told Jon Stewart on Comedy Central this week, the deaths were "not optimal."

Ms. Lamb, in her congressional testimony, said that from her command center in Washington she was able to track the lethal events of Benghazi in something akin to real time. She was in constant communication with the agent on the consulate grounds who first notified Washington that an assault—"attack, attack," the agent said—was under way. Ms. Lamb also said that the State Department was receiving a steady stream of data on the afternoon of Sept. 11 indicating that terrorism was afoot. Such admissions are what have given rise to charges of a coverup.

"Everyone had the same intelligence," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fox News last week. But that also appears untrue. How information immediately made known to an assistant secretary of state could somehow be withheld for eight days from the secretary of state herself—and from our U.N. ambassador, from the director of national intelligence, from the analytic corps at the Central Intelligence Agency, from the president's chief spokesman, and from the president himself—now forms the central question in the Benghazi affair.

In Tuesday night's debate with Mitt Romney, President Obama claimed to have "told" the American people that Benghazi was a terror attack the very next day, Sept. 12, when speaking from the Rose Garden. The assertion was untrue, despite moderator Candy Crowley's ruling to the contrary. The president had only spoken generally of terror attacks, and Benghazi would have been understood to fall under that umbrella only if it had been acknowledged as a terror attack.

On Sept. 12, that was not the administration's line. Not until his afternoon appearance on "The View" on Sept. 25—the "two weeks" of delay that Mr. Romney alluded to in the debate—did the president offer Americans an explanation of Benghazi that made no reference to a protest over a video. The YouTube connection had figured prominently in his Benghazi pronouncements as late as Mr. Obama's Sept. 20 appearance on Univision, and even in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on the morning of Sept. 25.

"The business of intelligence has become politicized," says an intelligence source with knowledge of the Benghazi episode, "regardless of which party is in charge." This is an enduring legacy of Vietnam and Watergate. Now, as then, American voters horrified by loss of life in a time of war will cast ballots without having all the facts that might inform their choice.

RTWT.

I reported on that Univision interview. The questions were amazingly penetrating, what we we're largely not getting from the U.S., Obama-kept media.

And see the left's pathetic efforts at disinformation, from yesterday, "Leftists Tout Politically-Driven Intelligence Revisions on Obama's Benghazi Massacre Clusterf-k."

Video: Alessandra Ambrosio $2.5 Million Fantasy

You're welcome.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Taking the plunge! Alessandra Ambrosio unveils $2.5million Victoria's Secret bra in glamorous gold gown."

PREVIOUSLY: "Smokin' Alessandra Ambrosio's in Victoria's Secret's $2.5m Fantasy Bra."

'It's becoming increasingly obvious that Silver can't be taken seriously...'

This is hilarious. Another blogger takes Nate Silver to the woodshed!

At Draw and STRIKE!, "Why You Can't Take FiveThirty-Eight's Nate Silver Seriously."

When I got that Memeorandum thread the other day my blog was inundated with Nate Silver truthers! I was joking on Twitter that Silver's giving Ron Paul a run for his money with the unhinged conspiracists. ROTLMFAO!

Checking the post, here's a knee slapper:

Yes, calling someone names and questioning their mental status is a logical way to critique the statistical, rational thought of a purely mathematical ideology. Since it works so well, I'll try it. DOnald, you are a tool. How do you like that douche bag?

There's more like that at the post. Those progs sure don't like it when you mock their heroes.

Seattle Mom Kicked Off Bus for Dirty Diaper

The baby's diaper, not hers.

And you know, maybe she should have freshened that baby up?!!

But she was pregnant so, voilà! The driver "bullied" her with "discrimination." It's an "undue burden" on a women to change a diaper! The horrors!

Black Marlin Off Cairns, Australia, Jumps Aboard 'Little Audrey'

An utterly amazing clip. I laughed out loud at least twice.

Via Theo Spark:

Won't You Open Up the Door?

From yesterday morning's coffee time, at The Sound L.A.:

11:04 - Breathe by Pink Floyd

11:07 - All You Need Is Love by Beatles

11:10 - Feels Like The First Time by Foreigner

11:14 - Don't Bring Me Down by E.l.o.

11:18 - Breakdown by Tom Petty

11:21 - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da by Police

11:32 - Stealin' by Uriah Heep

11:37 - What's Your Name by Lynyrd Skynyrd

11:40 - Pride (in The Name Of Love) by U2

11:44 - You're All I've Got Tonight by Cars

And see, "Lou Gramm Foreigner legendary vocalist embraces a second chance at life":

Lou Gramm will forever be recognized as the golden voice of Foreigner. Not for the current imitation band led by its only original member Mick Jones, but recognized for fronting Foreigner, one of the most popular and successful rock ‘n’ roll bands in history.

Unfortunately, the music industry decided long ago that it was acceptable to market an existing trademark without its key players involved as long as someone in the band controlled the rights to the name. Believe it or not people still show up to watch a mock group playing all the bands greatest hits, and it’s really no different than watching a bar band playing a bunch of cover tunes. Co-founder and guitarist Mick Jones fell ill in 2011 missing several gigs while on tour. Jones assigned a replacement guitarist while he recuperated leaving the touring band without a single original member. The band of musicians calling themselves Foreigner is actually making more money per concert than the real band. If the key players are no longer in the band … change the name, then the rest of us won’t feel like we are being musically violated.

A perfect example of a band “doing the right thing” is Jefferson Starship.

With that said, Foreigner the band’s debut album in 1977 sold more than four million copies, and since its inception the group remains a mainstay on classic rock radio stations around the world...

Interesting.

I saw Foreigner in concert in about 1979, the first arena concert I ever attended, at the L.A. Forum. It was great.

Huffington Post's Ryan Clayton 'Escorted' From D.C. Screening of 'Hating Breitbart'

At Instapundit, "Even from beyond, Andrew Breitbart is driving his ideological enemies into apoplexy."

And from Gateway Pundit, "BREAKING: FOX News Contributor & HuffPo Loon Ryan Clayton Frogmarched From “Hating Breitbart” Premier."

He's getting hammered on Twitter as well:

NOW SHOWING: The Haunting of Ryan Clayton - In the parking lot, no one can hear you scream RATED R #RyanClaytonGoesToTheMovies
— D.W.Robinson (@_DWRobinson) October 20, 2012

He's denying he was "frog-marched" out of the theater and is offering $1000 to the first person who provides video proof. I'll bet the dude's going to be $1000 poorer real soon.

Check the loon's Twitter feed.

UPDATE: This story's taking off.

See The Other McCain, "Left Celebrates ‘Hating Breitbart’ Opening by Acting Like the A–holes They Are." Via Memeorandum.

France 24's Sonia Dridi Sexually Assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Ho hum. Another female reporter in Cairo, another Islamic rape.

Blazing Cat Fur reports, "Muslims Sexually Assault French Reporter Sonia Dridi In Tahrir Square."

Also at Atlas Shrugs, "Uh oh ..... France 24 says its reporter "savagely" attacked in Tahrir Square # savage #mysubwayad":

The dhimmis at France 24 actually reported that one of their female reporters was "savagely attacked."

Where are the methodist women, and the liberal rabbis, and the interfaith coalitions lambasting France 24 and the female journalist for her lack of tolerance?

Also at Instapundit, "EGYPTIAN MOB VIOLENCE":

Yet another Western woman—Sonia Dridi, a journalist for France 24 TV—was seized and assaulted by a mob in Cairo. Fortunately she wasn’t harmed as badly as Lara Logan was last year. She credits someone named Ashraf Khalil, whom I presume is her fixer, for getting her out of there.

Well, it's springtime in Egypt!

Heidi Montag Shows Off Surgically-Boosted Bod in See-Through Top at Crazy Horse Gentlemen's Club in Las Vegas

I was just reading yesteday at Fox News that Ms. Montag was regretting that she got "g-sized" implants.

Well, it turns out that those "regrets" aren't so debilitating after all.

See London's Daily Mail, "Is she auditioning? Heidi Montag shows off her surgically enhanced curves in sheer top and tiny leather shorts at Vegas strip club":

As she posed for the cameras it was clear the 26-year-old had gone without a bra, with the see-through top showing off the results of her E-cup breast enlargement.

FLASHBACK: "Heidi Montag's Plastic Surgery," and "Heidi Montag Bikini Pics!"

Leftists Tout Politically-Driven Intelligence Revisions on Obama's Benghazi Massacre Clusterf-k

It's the Republicans playing politics with Benghazi?

That's all we've been hearing for weeks. President Obama even went so far as to feign outrage that Mitt Romney would even question his administration's account of events. So isn't it something now that WaPo's touting some cooked intelligence reports suggesting that the CIA has found no pre-planning for the assault on the consulate. Glenn Reynolds responds with the headline, "CONVENIENT NEW REVELATIONS: CIA documents supported Susan Rice’s description of Benghazi attacks."

Yeah, that's convenient alright. Also at Instapundit:

UPDATE: Reader Ed Holston emails: “Sure looks like the CIA documents that supported Susan Rice’s description of Benghazi attacks were revised from and at odds with the CIA’s own sources who were reporting from on the ground in Libya to Langley.” He sends this: CIA report at time of Benghazi attack placed blame on militants, sources say: CIA station chief in Libya reported within 24 hours that there was evidence US consulate attack was not carried  "CIA report at time of Benghazi attack placed blame on militants, sources say":

Right.

That link at the quote takes us to the left-wing Guardian UK:

CIA station chief in Libya reported within 24 hours that there was evidence US consulate attack was not carried out by a mob.

The CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month's deadly attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that there was evidence it had been carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American-made video ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad, US officials have said.

It is unclear who, if anyone, saw the cable outside the CIA at that point and how high up in the agency the information went. The Obama administration maintained publicly for a week that the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was carried out by a mob similar to those that staged less-deadly protests across the Muslim world around the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US.

Those statements have become highly charged political fodder as the presidential election approaches. A Republican-led House committee questioned state department officials for hours about what Republican lawmakers said was lax security at the consulate, given the growth of extremist Islamic militancy in North Africa.

That's an AP report that also appeared at yesterday's USA Today, "Day after Libya attack, CIA found militant links."

So it's not like this news wasn't all over the progressive fever swamps and official Washington. But checking the Memeorandum thread reveals the usual suspects of leftist liars and rogues. Check the link, but you've got socialists like Digby at Hullabaloo and the fanatical homosexual Obama-worshiper Andrew Sullivan touting this as "proof" that Susan Rice wasn't in fact lying to the American people. Well, it's too late now for the morally bankrupt left. Romney's going to crush the president on foreign policy on Monday night, and he'll be especially smart to call out the administration's disgusting deceit and duplicity.

As I said, it's not Republicans playing politics with Benghazi. It's the disgusting progressives who're now freaking out that the American public has caught on to this administration's years-long campaign of lies. Things are very ugly in American politics right now. An ambassador was killed in Libya along with three other Americans and our commander-in-chief dismisses their deaths as sub-optimal.

The reckoning's coming and it's going to be a harsh one. If Gallup is reliable, and I think it is, then Mitt Romney's the election frontrunner at this point. We've got a presidential incumbent underdog looking defeat in the face and the morally bankrupt Democrats will do anything to prop up this impostor's decadence in power.

Netanyahu Says Gaza-Bound Activists Aimed to Provoke, Slander Israel

At the Times of Israel:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the IDF on Saturday for its takeover of a Gaza-bound ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists. He said the Estelle ship’s passengers aimed only to provoke, and to slander Israel.

The IDF found no humanitarian equipment onboard, despite activists’ claims that they were delivering needed materials to the Strip.

In a televised statement, the prime minister hailed the military’s “efforts in safeguarding the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in accordance with international law.”

Netanyahu said that the people on the ship, among them three Israelis along with activists from the US, Sweden and Norway, “know that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and their only goal is to create a provocation and to slander Israel’s name.”

Video c/o Blazing Cat Fur, "Confirmed: Gaza Boat Seized By Israel."

Stop Paycheck Theft: Vote Yes on Proposition 32

From the letters to the editors, at the Los Angeles Times, "Letters: Prop. 32, unions and political giving":

Re "Prop. 32's real purpose," Column, Oct. 18

George Skelton calls Proposition 32, which would prohibit unions from making payroll deductions to raise money for political spending, a "self-serving sham." So should we continue to allow teachers unions to force their members to donate to their leaders' favorite political causes?

Why must my wife, a first-grade teacher, contribute to political causes she doesn't like? How would Skelton feel if The Times effectively forced him to support Mitt Romney via a paycheck deduction?

If unions want their members to give to certain causes, let them persuade the workers to do it. Forcing people to give to political causes they don't believe in runs contrary to the basic rules of a democracy.

I believe Proposition 32 would reduce the power of special interests and let candidates work for all Californians and not just for their donors. And I'm a dedicated Democrat.

Vince Scully
Long Beach

Get that? A "dedicated Democrat" and his union-member wife don't like big labor stealing their hard-earned dollars. Because that's what it is. If you have no choice about the matter, the unions are taking your money against your will. See also the recent editorial at the Orange County Register, "Editorial: Yes on Prop. 32 (unions)":

Anyone familiar with California politics knows that the most powerful forces, by far, in the state Capitol are the public-employee unions. Their clout was demonstrated this year when the California Teachers Association, the most powerful of them all, killed Senate Bill 1530, which would have made it easier to fire bad teachers for actions "that involve certain sex offenses, controlled-substance offenses or child abuse offenses."

SB1530 was not concocted by a conservative Republican, but by state Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, a liberal Democrat. The bill advanced after several cases of teacher abuse against children came to light, especially a disgusting scenario allegedly involving Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Mark Berndt. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the state Senate, 33-4. Then the CTA killed it in the Assembly Education Committee.

The episode illustrates what has happened since California public-employee unions were given collective bargaining rights in the 1970s by Gov. Jerry Brown. This occurred even though such stalwart liberal private-sector union partisans as President Franklin Roosevelt had warned that public-sector unionization would lead to too much union power and the loss of public trust in the government.

That is so nausea-induceing it's literally perverse. But that's what you get when you have the hard-left, socialist-backed teachers' unions as the most powerful political force in California. These thugs are literally bringing the state down low, morally, politically, and economically. This is how nations self-destruct. You get the image of the end of the republic right here in the once-great "Golden State."

PREVIOUSLY: "Long Beach Press-Telegram: Yes on 32."

Leopold Museum in Vienna: 'Naked Man in Art'

At the Los Angeles Times, "'Nude Men' art exhibition in Austria sparks conversation."

Actually, it's not so much sparking "conversation" as controversy. There are giant-sized posters of nude men placed around the city --- even near elementary schools, which brought complaints from parents --- and right at the museum's entrance is a humongous poster of a man sprawling on his back nude, with his junk flopping out, prompting one commenter at a far-left homosexual blog to gasp, "'Imagine the size of his balls'."

The Times even posted a warning at the article, "The Leopold Museum is offering some of the artwork on its website. (Please note the images may be offensive for some readers.) "

You think?

But it's not just the monster-sized images of men in the buff that's disgusting --- placed next to schoolyards for maximum effect. The museum's collection includes photos of men engaged in homo sex acts. Here's the report at Fox News, "It's raining men: Vienna museum draws complaints for plastering city with male nude poster":

VIENNA – Naked men of all sizes and shapes are appearing on Vienna kiosks as a prestigious museum kicks off an exhibit of male nudity.

But outside the exhibition, organizers are being forced into cover-up mode after a storm of complaints that the ad posters are offensive.

In a show titled "Nude Men from 1800 to Today," the Leopold Museum opened its doors Friday to examine how artists have dealt with the theme of male nudity over the centuries.

"Mr. Big" — a four-meter (more than 12-foot) high full-frontal photo mounted on plywood and depicting a naked young man in an indolent sprawl — is set up near the show's entrance, lest there be any doubt what visitors are about to see.

Inside, around 300 art works are on display — including the controversial photograph that is raising the ire of Viennese. Created by French artists Pierre & Gilles, "Vive La France" shows three young, athletic men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer shoes. No visitors were complaining Friday as they filed past that photo and even more graphic examples of male nudity, including some depicted in sex acts.

"No complaints."

And why would there be? It's all so cool, homosexual sodomy as public art exhibitionism.

This is European progressivism run amok. And it's not like we don't have such perverse "art" in the U.S. --- the "Piss Christ" exhibit is all the rage among enlightened leftists, but let a filmmaker produce an anti-Muslim video trailer and the wrath of ages is brought down on the "blasphemy." It's pretty f-ked up.

UPDATE: Blazing Cat Fur links, hilariously, "Do You Find Naked Men Offensive?"

Violent Obama Cultist Threatens Opus #6

Check it out, at American Perspective, "Leftist Thug Threatens Me After I Photographed Obama Sign (Video)."

Opus was quick to get her phone to recording mode, and the image is blurry, but there it is, on tape, some progressive thug getting criminal in support of Barack "The One" Obama.

F-king asshole Democrats.

Don't back down to the intimidation. Take it to them. Get back in their faces. Opus is a courageous, strong woman, just what progressives hate the most. The progs want their women dependent and servile, constantly jonesin' for a big government fix. When good people reject that slavery, they're harassed and threatened. That's what this election is all about, progressive slavery versus basic decency and freedom.

Socialist Lawrence O'Donnell Challenges Tagg Romney!

He's a tough one, dontcha know!

At Legal Insurrection, "Harvard grad Lawrence O’Donnell, who grew up in privilege, challenges Tagg Romney to a fight." (Video.)

BONUS VIDEO: Lawrence O'Donnell, "I am a socialist." See? He's a tough one!

A Treasure of Maps

This is an amazing piece, at LAT, "Treasure-trove of maps headed to L.A. Public Library":

When real estate agent Matthew Greenberg cleaned out the Mount Washington cottage after the occupant died, he couldn't bring himself to throw out a treasure-trove he discovered inside--all kinds of maps.

Instead, he invited the Los Angeles Public Library's map librarian to look at the find.

Stashed everywhere in the 948-square-foot tear-down were maps. Tens of thousands of maps. Fold-out street maps were stuffed in file cabinets, crammed into cardboard boxes, lined up on closet shelves and jammed into old dairy crates.

Wall-size roll-up maps once familiar to schoolchildren were stacked in corners. Old globes were lined in rows atop bookshelves also filled with maps and atlases. A giant plastic topographical map of the United States covered a bathroom wall and bookcases displaying Thomas Bros. map books and other street guides lined a small den.

The library's Glen Creason called the find unbelievable.

"I think there are at least a million maps here," he said. "This dwarfs our collection — and we've been collecting for 100 years."

Creason returned to the home Thursday with 10 library employees and volunteers to box up the maps. The acquisition will give the city library one of the country's top five library map archives, behind the Library of Congress and public libraries in New York, Philadelphia and Boston, he said.

More at the link.

Death and Deceit in Benghazi

A Friday night edition of "Special Report with Bret Baier."

A great report. The segment beginning at 22:30 minutes, covering the timeline of the administration's cover up, is simply devastating:

Baby Walrus Adapts to Life in City

I'm a sucker for these animal stories, at the New York Times:

A team of 15 is caring for him around the clock. His favorite toy is a plastic bucket. He has taken swimmingly to a large pool. And on Friday, he had his first taste of solid food — surf clams.

“He’s hitting every milestone we’re hoping to see,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, director of the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn, part of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “He still has some issues with his bladder, but they are trending in the right direction. Behaviorally, he’s doing great and we’re feeling good about his progress.”

He was describing Mitik, or Mit for short, one of two walrus calves separated from a herd in the Artic Ocean and orphaned in Alaska in July. The Alaska SeaLife Center took them in and found new homes for each. (The other walrus, Pakak, went to the Indianapolis Zoo.) The New York Aquarium, eager for a young companion for its two older walruses, stepped up, flying a staff member, Martha Hiatt, to Alaska to work with Mit for a month.

On Oct. 11, Ms. Hiatt, the aquarium’s behavioral husbandry supervisor, along with a veterinarian, accompanied Mit on a FedEx cargo jet from Anchorage to Newark. The walrus, believed to be about 16 weeks old, stayed in his crate during the six-hour flight. “It was loud,” Ms. Hiatt said of the trip. “He pretty much sang to us the entire time. We stayed with him, talked to him and hosed him off now and then.”

At the aquarium, Mit has adapted to his new environment, a state-of-the-art medical facility built in 2008 that was designed for marine mammals. There is a large, eight-foot-deep pool that is a considerable leap from the one he used in Alaska. “He’s in it from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep,” Ms. Hiatt said this week. “He’s a big swimmer. He plays and swims literally until he falls asleep.”

RTWT.

Trainers are worried the walrus will not warm up to his own species when they prepare him for exhibition at the zoo. I guess they should have thought more about that when they decided not to return him to the wild.

President Obama's Closing Act: An Epic Collapse

From Hugh Hewitt, at Townhall:

The ongoing collapse of President Obama's campaign may lead to some extraordinary stunts during Monday's last debate, but no matter what he tries, it is very unlikely that the president can reverse the enormous momentum behind Mitt Romney's campaign.

(One data point. Congressman John Campbell, a frequent guest on my radio show, polled his district this week. It is Califronia's 45. John McCain carried it by 4.7 points in 2008. Mitt Romney is almost 20 points ahead in this cycle. Campbell reports that this sort of result is showing up across the country.)

The nation is simply finished with a president whose rhetoric has never been matched by his actions, and whose performance has removed Jimmy Carter from the bottom of the rankings of the modern president.

The president of course has his passionate supporters. These are the same people that spent last Tuesdaynight declaring him the winner of his second meeting with Mitt Romney, and Wednesday and Thursday trying to infuse the word "binder" with game-changing significance.

They are the same people who spent Friday denying that "not optimal" was not a big deal.

"Binder" -- big deal. "Not optimal" -- no deal at all. That's the state of the Obama campaign: A nearly Orwellian effort at making some words matter and others disappear while facts are pushed aside It hasn't worked. It won't work.

John Campbell is my congressman. The Irvine area, which is part of the 45th district, along with Newport Beach primarily, isn't hurting for Democrats. I see Obama bumper stickers all the time and my local 7/11 never seems to run out of the Mitt Romney election cups, but the Obama ones are nowhere to be found. Could be something else but it makes you wonder. Maybe I'm in a low rent coffee shop?

I'm not predicting a Romney win at this point, although it's looking more and more likely. A couple of the key battleground states still look competitive for Obama, especially Ohio, which is a must-win state for Romney. But again, it's looking that Obama's collapsed with very little time to recover. And the last debate's on foreign policy, and even if he does well, it keeps the laser focus on the Obama administration's foreign affairs, which aren't doing so well in the polls of late. Deeds on the ground have to turn around a collapse like that, not blustery rhetoric attacking your opponent in debate. Perhaps voters aren't in the mood to hand the foreign policy keys over to this president for a second test drive around the global test-track.

My father-in-law did say he thought Obama's going to lose, so there's another data point to add along with folks like Hugh Hewitt. It's going to be a very exciting next couple of weeks, that's for sure.

PREVIOUSLY: "End of the Obama Regime."

State Departments Stonewalls on Libya After Report Destroys Their 'Bad Intelligence' Excuse…

At Weasel Zippers.

And the full Department of State video is here. The key exchange comes at just before 10:00 minutes.

PREVIOUSLY: "New State Department Docs Show Ambassador Stevens Warned of Security Threats Before Benghazi Attack."

Amid Falling Profit, McDonald's to Revisit 'Dollar Menu'

At the Wall Street Journal:

McDonald's Corp. reported a 3.5% decline in third-quarter earnings as sales slowed more dramatically than expected because of a sluggish economy and a disappointing marketing campaign.

McDonald's predicted its sales and earnings growth will "remain pressured" over the next few quarters by the weak economy, and conceded that it needs to be more aggressive in advertising low prices.

As the world's largest fast-food chain, McDonald's has touted its global scale and mix of both value-oriented and higher-priced menu items as key to enduring tough economic times. But the once-resilient restaurant operator isn't weathering the current market turbulence as well as it did the crisis of 2009 because the downturn is more widespread and competition is closing the gap.

"We face softening demand, heightened competition and rising costs in many of our markets," Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said. In a weaker economy, customers tend to stop getting extras like drinks and desserts and premium items like Angus burgers, which all offer higher profits to McDonald's. Plus, they may not go out to eat as frequently.

McDonald's shares were down 4.5% to $88.72 in 4 p.m. composite trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, as Wall Street analysts were expecting an increase in per-share profit for the quarter, not a decline.


Chief Executive Don Thompson said McDonald's move earlier this year to shift its marketing focus in the U.S. to the higher-priced and more profitable "Extra Value Menu" from the successful "Dollar Menu" didn't "resonate as strongly" with consumers.

"We're going back to talk of the Dollar Menu," Mr. Thompson said.

End of the Obama Regime

Newt Gingrich and Liz Cheney on Hannity's:

They're talking about those Gallup numbers I've been covering around here. It was Romney up 51-45 earlier this week, and then up to 52-45 on Thursday. That's when Nate Silver had his meltdown.

More on the Gallup tracking numbers as we go along. It's funny!

Andrew Malcolm Dissects New Media and the Future of Journalism

A great clip.

Nick Gillespie talks to Andrew Malcolm: