Icy Death: David Cox Died After His Car Plunged Into Water on School Run

These winter car-crash deaths are too much.

At Mirror UK, "Horror on the school run: Dad drowns after BOTH family's cars crash into icy river":

His wife managed to swim to the bank with their daughter and son and the three of them tried valiantly to free him but he drowned.

A dad drowned yesterday after his car plunged into an icy river - moments before his wife's vehicle did the same.

Last night a neighbour told of her desperate bid to free trapped dad David Cox from his submerged car which crashed during the school run.

Victoria Bamber waded stomach high through the water to reach the stricken dad-of-two who had skidded off a snow covered road just minutes before his wife Ruth’s 4x4 crashed at the same spot, jamming his door shut.

Ruth, 39, managed to swim to the bank with their 11-year-old daughter Tess and son Ioan, nine.

The three of them tried valiantly to free him but he drowned.

Mum-of-three Victoria said the first she knew of the tragedy was when frantic Ioan banged on her door after running three quarters of a mile from the crash scene to his home to raise the alarm because there was no mobile phone signal in the area.

The 32-year-old added: “He was running down the lane shouting for help.

"He came banging on the door saying, ‘There’s been an accident, daddy is trapped’.

“He said that both cars had gone into the water.”

As she raced to the scene Victoria spotted Tess who was running towards the house, for a second time.

When she arrived at the crash site, both cars were in the water but she could only see one, which was wedged against the other, trapping David.

Continue reading.

New York Post: Hillary Clinton Explodes at Benghazi Hearing

The Post made some hay with Hillary's testimony.

See, "Feisty Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fires back at Congress in Benghazi hearing." And also a commentary from John Podhoretz, "Clinton’s exasperation can’t cover the fact that administration bumbled in pursuit of terrorists."

Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Bandeau

Some Candice Swanepoel overnight.

Obama's Spending Will Require Massive Tax Hikes on the Middle Class

It's harsh, but at some level I hope people really get socked and feel it. Maybe that's what it will take to wake people the f-k up.

At IBD, "Now They Tell Us: Obama's Tax Promises Were Bogus":

Remember all those mainstream news reports before the election about how President Obama's expansive spending plans would require massive tax hikes on everyone, not just millionaires and billionaires? Neither do we.

But somehow after the election, reporters are finally admitting that Obama's budget numbers simply don't add up and that new taxes on the middle class — including a European-style value added tax — are "inevitable."

New York Times columnist Eduardo Porter, for example, wrote this week that the $620 billion in tax hikes on the rich that Obama secured as part of the fiscal-cliff deal are "hardly enough to stabilize the nation's debt in the next 10 years, let alone deal with the long-term budget deficit."

Fortune senior editor-at-large Shawn Tully wrote last week how "steep deficits and mountainous debt will rise even after the new revenue is counted."

An article on CNBC's website in early January noted that the fiscal-cliff deal "merely masks the bleak long-term outlook for the country."

These stories go on to say that there's no way Obama can finance his ambitious plans without raising taxes on everyone.

The Financial Times ran a piece shortly after Obama signed the fiscal-cliff deal noting "that maintaining a basic welfare state . .. implies higher taxes for the middle class as well as for the rich."

Targeting The Middle

CNN reported that while "President Obama wants to balance spending cuts with tax increases ... experts say he can't do that without hitting the middle class."
That story quotes Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert Bixby saying that "it's hard to make the numbers work" if you exempt "the middle class from any pain."
Hmm.

As we recall, Obama endlessly promised the country that he could spend — sorry, "invest" — more on roads and education while cutting the deficit simply by trimming some fat out of government programs and asking "millionaires and billionaires to pay just a little bit more."

No one in the mainstream press seriously challenged Obama on this at the time, even though it was painfully obvious to anyone who looked at the budget forecasts that Obama was peddling fiscal snake oil.

Continue reading.

Here's that Eduardo Porter piece, from the New York Times, "Higher Taxes on Everyone Could Ease Spending Cuts."

I'm going to read around at some of those additional reports cited by IBD. The Obama campaign was one big lie after another. My favorite? "Al Qaeda has been decimated!"

Jihadists' Bid for Sharia in Mali

This is a great piece, running surprisingly at the New York Times' op-ed page, from Karima Bennoune, "The Taliban of Timbuktu":

BEFORE the recent French intervention in Mali began, 412,000 people had already left their homes in the country’s north, fleeing torture, summary executions, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence against women at the hands of fundamentalist militants. Late last year, in Algeria and southern Mali, I interviewed dozens of Malians from the north, including many who had recently fled. Their testimonies confirmed the horrors that radical Islamists, self-proclaimed warriors of God, have inflicted on their communities.

First, the fundamentalists banned music in a country with one of the richest musical traditions in the world. Last July, they stoned an unmarried couple for adultery. The woman, a mother of two, had been buried up to her waist in a hole before a group of men pelted her to death with rocks. And in October the Islamist occupiers began compiling lists of unmarried mothers.

Even holy places are not safe. These self-styled “defenders of the faith” demolished the tombs of local Sufi saints in the fabled city of Timbuktu. The armed groups also reportedly destroyed many churches in the north, where displaced members of the small Christian minority told me they had previously felt entirely accepted. Such Qaeda-style tactics, and the religious extremism that demands them, are completely alien to the mainstream of Malian Islam, which is known for its tradition of tolerance.

That openness is exactly what the jihadists seek to crush. “The fact that we are building a new country on the base of Shariah is just something the people living here will have to accept,” the Islamist police commissioner in the town of Gao said last August. Until military action began this month, local citizens were on their own in resisting the imposition of Shariah — and they fought back valiantly. A radio journalist was severely beaten by Islamist gunmen after speaking on the radio against amputations. Women marched through the streets of Timbuktu against Islamist diktats on veiling until gunfire ended their protest.

Continue reading.

And linked at the piece is this report from the United Nations Security Council, FWIW, "Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Mali."

On Assault Weapons Ban, Senate Democrats Must Reckon With Angry Gun-Owning Constituents

I doubt Senator Feinstein's got a snowball's chance of getting her gun-grabbing bill passed, and that's not even considering her own Democrat colleagues in the Senate. The House will shut down the legislative push to gut the Second Amendment. There'll be hell to pay if they don't.

Here's the clip below of Feinstein's press conference this morning, and see the New York Times, "Democrats in Senate Confront Doubts at Home on Gun Laws":

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Talk of stricter gun control has stirred up a lot of unease here, a place where hunters vie for top prize (a 26-inch LED television) in the Big Buck Photo Contest, and ads for a gun-simulator game ask, “Feel like shooting something today?”

But before Senator Joe Manchin III invited a group of 15 businessmen and community leaders to lunch last week to discuss the topic, he had only a vague idea of how anxious many of his supporters were.

“How many of you all believe that there is a movement to take away the Second Amendment?” he asked.

About half the hands in the room went up.

Despite his best attempts to reassure them — “I see no movement, no talk, no bills, no nothing” — they remained skeptical. “We give up our rights one piece at a time,” a banker named Charlie Houck told the senator.

If there is a path to new gun laws, it has to come through West Virginia and a dozen other states with Democratic senators like Mr. Manchin who are confronting galvanized constituencies that view any effort to tighten gun laws as an infringement.

As Congress considers what, if any, laws to change, Mr. Manchin has become a barometer among his colleagues, testing just how far they might be able to go without angering voters.

On Thursday a group of Democratic senators led by Dianne Feinstein of California plans to introduce a bill that would outlaw more than 100 different assault weapons, setting up what promises to be a fraught and divisive debate over gun control in Congress in the coming weeks. But a number of centrist lawmakers like Mr. Manchin have already thrown the measure’s fate into question, saying that all they are willing to support for now is a stronger background check system.

As a hunter with an A rating from the National Rifle Association, Mr. Manchin gave advocates for new weapons laws reason for optimism after he said last month that gun firepower and magazine capacity might need to be limited.

But now, Mr. Manchin, who affirmed his support for gun rights by running a campaign commercial in 2010 showing him firing a rifle into an environmental bill, says he is not so sure. One of his local offices has been picketed, and even some of his most thoughtful supporters are cautioning him that stronger background checks are about all the gun control they can stomach.

More at that top link, and at the Daily Caller, "Feinstein calls for banning more than 150 types of firearms during dramatic press conference" (via Memeorandum and Protein Wisdom).

I'll have more on this ...

Classic French Toast at Bravo Burgers

I had breakfast with my wife on Tuesday, when I was out running errands most of the day. Bravo Burgers serves a very delicious breakfast, with good coffee and a nice restaurant ambiance. And my wife loves it because she can get in and out of there in a half-an-hour and be back on the job. I recommend it!

Jessica Alba Joins Axis of Fedora!

Actually, it's not just Ms. Alba. It's a roster of fedora hotties.

At London's Daily Mail, "Felt fedora hats are this week's celebrity must-have: Kate Moss, Catherine Zeta Jones, Myleene Klass and Jessica Alba are just some of the headgear's famous fans."

Robert Stacy McCain, Bob Belvedere, and Da Tech Guy et al., have some hot competition.

Cyber-Terrorist Group WikiLeaks Alleges Working Relationship With the Late Criminal Hacker Aaron Swartz

At All Things Digital, "WikiLeaks Alleges Relationship With Web Activist Aaron Swartz."

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "Members of hacking group Anonymous jailed for denial of service attacks on Visa, MasterCard and PayPal websites."
Freakin' criminals, the lot of them.

Kitty Lea Baby Oil Screencaps

This is pretty amazing, at Egotastic!, "BY POPULAR DEMAND: Kitty Lea Slippery When Wet and Oiled Down (VIDEO)."

BONUS: "Kitty Lea Shows All But Her Kitty In Hot New Front Magazine Photoshoot (VIDEO)."

These are NSFW.

Oak Harbor Councilman Stomps Feets, Walks Out of Meeting in Protest of Veteran Packing Heat With Concealed Carry Permit

This is an example of democracy in action and in this case --- and note that Oak Harbor is on Whidbey Island off of far-left Seattle, Washington --- the idiot progressive councilman was rebuke, embarrassed, and stomped out like a child.

Via iOWNTHEWORLD, "Look at this sack of pansysh*t – Councilman walks out of meeting because a trained war veteran has a CCW."

And kudos to Mayor Scott Dudley for his conciliatory and constitutionally-sound comments at the rest of the meeting.

Muslims Protest Lego Over 'Racist' Star Wars Toy

You can't make this up.

At London's Daily Mail, "Lego accused of racism by Turkish community who say toy is based on a mosque."

More at Pamela's, "#MYJIHAD IN AUSTRIA: MUSLIMS DEFAME LEGO WITH ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM OVER STAR WARS TOY SET." And at BNI, "Oh, NOES! Outraged Muslims demand apology from 'LEGO' and threaten lawsuit for offending the wittle fweewings of Turkish Muslims."

New York's Gun Confiscation Agenda

Michelle's was on fire on last night's Hannity:

More here: "Assemblyman Lists Gun Confiscation Agenda of N.Y. Democrats."

The National Debt Is Unfair to the Next Generation

Commentary from the lovely Michelle Fields, via Instapundit:

Kate Upton Mercedes-Benz Controversy

Nah, that's not so controversial.

At the Hollywood Reporter, "Kate Upton's Steamy Mercedes-Benz Ad Draws Controversy."

Hat Tip: Theo Spark, "Kate Upton Washes the All-New Mercedes-Benz CLA in Slow Motion."

Mante Te'o's Hoax 'Girlfriend' Speaks Out

It's Diane O'Meara, in an interview with Anderson Cooper from last night:

And at London's Daily Mail, "'He's been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos': Face behind Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend speaks out for first time - and slams 'hoaxer' over 'identity theft'."

Fontana School Police Add 'Military-Style' Rifles, Anti-Gun Board Member Freaks Out

Seriously, when police can't even arm themselves with top-level firepower, you know it's not about keeping "assault weapons" out of the hands of criminals, etc. It's about the complete and total unconstitutional disarming of society.

Unreal, at the Los Angeles Times, "Fontana school police are armed with semiautomatic rifles":

The recent purchase of the Colt rifles draws criticism and sparks an effort to ban such weapons on school campuses.

Police officers in the Fontana Unified School District were armed recently with semiautomatic rifles, drawing sharp criticism and sparking an effort to ban such weapons on school campuses.

The Colt military-style rifles, which cost about $1,000 each, are kept in safes when officers are on campus and will be used only in "extreme emergency cases" like the massacre in Newtown, Conn., Supt. Cali Olsen-Binks said.

The district purchased the rifles in October and received them in December, before the tragedy in Newtown, where a gunman killed 26 people — 20 of them children — at an elementary school. The shooting sparked debate on whether armed school guards could prevent these types of tragedies.

The purchase was not spurred by a specific event, Fontana Unified School District police Chief Billy Green said. The rifles are designed to increase shooting accuracy and provide the 14 officers with more effective power against assailants wearing body armor, Green said, adding that those capabilities are necessary for officers to stop a well-armed gunman.

"If you know of a better way to stop someone on campus that's killing children or staff members with a rifle, I'd like to hear it," he said. "I don't think it's best to send my people in to stop them with just handguns."

"I hope we would never have to use it," Green said. "But if we do, I'd like them to be prepared."

Several other school districts have similar weapons but policies differ on whether they are brought on campus or left in patrol car trunks or administration buildings.

Fontana school police bought the guns for about $14,000, which fell below the threshold that requires school board approval. School board members were not informed until after the purchase.

Board member Leticia Garcia said the police chief and superintendent should have alerted the five-member board and held a public hearing on the issue. She said arming officers with such weapons is a policy matter and should have been decided by the entire school district community, especially in light of the ongoing debate around the country.

Garcia, whose son attends Fontana High School, said she is working with local state legislators to draft a bill that would keep school police departments from taking these types of weapons onto campuses.

"We're turning our schools into a militarized zone," she said.

But the Fontana school superintendent said she believes it's a necessary evil to have the guns on campus to keep the 40,000-plus students and staff members safe. Officers have gone through training for the weapons, Olsen-Binks said.

"It balances providing that community-oriented openness at schools without compromising any kind of security for students and employees," she said.

More at that top link.

Pentagon to Open Combat Roles to Women

At the Wall Street Journal, "Combat Ban for Women to End":

The Pentagon is dropping the last vestiges of rules barring American women from serving in combat, paving the way for the largest expansion ever of their role on the front lines.

Women in the military already are allowed to serve on most Navy ships, as combat pilots and in hundreds of support jobs, including those in war zones. But they have been historically excluded from direct combat roles, by federal law in earlier times and more recently by military policy.

That will change Thursday when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rescinds the 1994 Pentagon policy that bans women, who now make up about 14% of active-duty military personnel, from combat. The new measure will allow women to serve in combat roles—but, importantly, allow the military services to establish exceptions.

The change is an acknowledgment that women on modern battlefields already are in the fight—152 women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan—and that military rules need to be updated to reflect realities of the current-day war zones. At the same time, the shift establishes a process that could take years to complete.

The new policy should allow women to serve alongside infantry troops as battlefield medics, special-operations pilots and in other dangerous roles, officials said. But officials are divided about whether women will ultimately serve as infantry troops or in elite special-operations units. Some military officials, citing the difficulty of completing infantry training courses, believe that most women would be unable to meet the physical requirements.

Army Staff Sgt. Jennifer Hunt, who was injured in 2007 by a roadside bomb in Iraq, said in an interview Wednesday that the current ban on women in combat is "a legal fiction." She said women have long faced the same front-line dangers from militants and improvised explosive devises as men.

"Right before the IED went off, it didn't ask me how many push-ups or sit-ups I could do," said Ms. Hunt, one of the women who filed a lawsuit last year to challenge the ban. "Right now the women who are serving are being engaged in combat, so their physical restrictions aren't a barrier."

And see Ryan Smith, "The Reality That Awaits Women in Combat."

At the clip above, from a couple of weeks ago, is Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, an organization that opposes women serving in direct front-line combat.

Baby Dies After SUV Falls Through Thin Ice at Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota

Being from California, I just didn't understand this story at first. Did the SUV careen over the road? Did it go over the side of a bridge and crash down into the icy water? No. It turns out that people drive on the frozen lake, and in this case, the baby's father drove on the ice despite warnings from local law enforcement of very dangerous (thin ice) conditions.

At London's Daily Mail, "Baby girl drowns strapped in her car-seat after father's SUV plummets through known thin ice spot on frozen Minnesota lake."

God rest that poor baby's soul. I can't believe something like this is even possible.

I'm Sure Everything Will Be All Better With More Diversity Training and Seminars on Institutional Racism

From KARE 11 TV Minneapolis, "Washburn High School racial incident prompts discussions with parents."

MINNEAPOLIS - Hundreds packed the auditorium at Washburn High School Wednesday night for a community meeting after students allegedly hung a black-skinned baby doll by its neck in the school hallway two weeks ago.

"I was embarrassed, humiliated, outraged, angry that this would happen at our diverse and rich school," Principal Carl Markham-Cousins told the crowd.

She began the meeting that was designed for people to share their thoughts and concerns about what happened.

Students were allowed to talk first. Many spoke about how they loved their school and that the actions of a few did not represent the many.

Some students wanted an apology from those involved.

"Parents please talk to your kids and make sure that it doesn't happen again," said one student who stood up to the microphone.

The school says the four students involved were disciplined, but citing privacy laws, refused to be more specific.

"I have spoken with all of those students and all of those parents and I'll tell you right now, they are full of remorse," said Markham-Cousins.

Some parents in the audience wanted to know why they weren't notified of the incident right away, instead of getting a notice days later.

The school apologized saying it was gathering facts about what happened and did try to send an email but there were technical problems delaying the message.

A number of community members demanded more be taught about African-American history in the classroom, not just here but in the Minneapolis School District, something the superintendent says is already taking place.

"We've already began to look at our social studies standards to see where we can do a better job...in our schools," said Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson.

Right.

Let's beef up the social studies curriculum. That and a few diversity retreats ought to do it.

Idiots. Somebody needs to go out and kick some racist redneck ass. All the "social studies" training in the world won't do jack. My god. Lynching a black baby in effigy, and on Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday? Obviously President Barack Hussein's really bringing this country together.

Hillary Clinton 'Lost Her Cool When One Senator Pressed Her Closely to Account for the False Story That Had Been Put Out in the Days Following the Attack...'

I like the way Jonathan Tobin strikes it up at this essay, "“What Difference Does it Make?” Plenty":

As Seth noted earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her long-awaited congressional testimony about Benghazi with excuses and an attempt to misdirect the public about what the administration knew about the incident and when it knew it. But while Clinton happily listened to fawning praise from the Democratic members of the Senate committee this morning, she lost her cool when one senator pressed her closely to account for the false story that had been put out in the days following the attack.

Senator Ron Johnson pointed out that accurate information about the assault that would have easily corrected the misconception, promoted by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice and others, that the attack was merely a protest about a film rather than a terrorist attack was available at the time. Clinton not only refused to answer that question in a straightforward matter, but snapped, “What difference does it make?” about the whole matter of the false account. She then attempted to insinuate that there was still some doubt about the matter.

The answer to her question is clear. An administration that sought, for political purposes, to give the American people the idea that al-Qaeda had been “decimated” and was effectively out of commission had a clear motive during a presidential campaign to mislead the public about Benghazi. The fact that questions are still unanswered about this crime and that Clinton and President Obama seem more interested in burying this story along with the four Americans that died is an outrage that won’t be forgotten...

Indeed.

Continue reading.

BONUS: From James Taranto at WSJ, "'What Difference Does It Make?'":

Hillary Clinton is ending her tenure as secretary of state in fiery fashion. "You really get the sense that [Mrs.] Clinton barely managed to restrain herself from dropping an F-bomb there," remarks New York magazine's Dan Amira. He refers to an exchange between the secretary and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing this morning.

No doubt.

Union Membership in U.S. Fell to 70-Year Low Last Year

At the New York Times, "Share of the Work Force in a Union Falls to a 97-Year Low, 11.3%":

The long decline in the number of American workers belonging to labor unions accelerated sharply last year, according to data reported on Wednesday, sending the unionization rate to its lowest level in close to a century.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the total number of union members fell by 400,000 last year, to 14.3 million, even though the nation’s overall employment rose by 2.4 million. The percentage of workers in unions fell to 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, the bureau found in its annual report on union membership. That brought unionization to its lowest level since 1916, when it was 11.2 percent, according to a study by two Rutgers economists, Leo Troy and Neil Sheflin.

Labor specialists cited several reasons for the steep one-year decline in union membership. Among the factors were new laws that rolled back the power of unions in Wisconsin, Indiana and other states, the continued expansion by manufacturers like Boeing and Volkswagen in nonunion states and the growth of sectors like retail and restaurants, where unions have little presence.

“These numbers are very discouraging for labor unions,” said Gary N. Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. “It’s a time for unions to stop being clever about excuses for why membership is declining, and it’s time to figure out how to devise appeals to the workers out there.”

Labor unions have boasted of their political successes in helping re-elect President Obama and in helping Democrats pick up seats in Congress.

But the figures announced by the bureau point to grave problems for the future of organized labor. The portion of private sector workers in unions fell to just 6.6 percent last year, from 6.9 percent in 2011, causing some labor specialists to question whether private sector unions were sinking toward irrelevance. Private sector union membership peaked at around 35 percent in the 1950s.

Continue reading.

Also at Vodkapundit, "Feeling the Squeeze."

Elizabeth Scalia Responds to Mary Elizabeth Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams, in an essay at Salon, attacked conservative pro-life activists as "diabolical" for appropriating the slogan "life" as the central symbol of the anti-abortion narrative. Yeah. I know. Being pro-life AND winning the debate is indeed diabolical if you're a leftist. But that's just the beginning of this morally inverted pro-abortion screed.

Elizabeth Scalia responds to Williams at The Anchoress, "“Abortion Ends Life? So What?” Here be Monsters. – UPDATED":

Williams is making precisely the utilitarian argument made by every totalitarian ideology that ever slaughtered people by the millions, because they were the wrong sorts of people, or were useless eaters, or they could not contribute to the advancement of society, or their quality of life just seemed too dubious to those who did not know and love them. Immediately after expressing concern that “liberals” might look like monsters, she utters the monster’s line: you have no rights except those I give you.

RTWT.

And click through at the post for Williams' essay. Diabolical is just about right.

What Difference Does It Make?

I am watching the testimony today on Capitol Hill, and it's objectively not the case that "Madame Secretary" is "wiping the floor with the Republicans who are trying to take her down." But then, as we saw yesterday, progressives can only win debates by successful doublespeak and historical revisionism. Here's Steve M's early attempts to get it done for the Hillary and Democrats on the Benghazi clusterf-k, "THE BREITBART/O'KEEFE-IZATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS, PART MCMLXXVII":

Now, sometimes these things never attain any more than shibboleth status -- they're secret codewords right-wingers use whenever they talk about a particular Antichrist of theirs. This will definitely attain that status -- years from now, when Hillary publishes her memoirs or announces a run for president, folks on winger message boards will write "What difference does it make?" and not even bother to put the phrase in context, because all the like-minded readers will just know.

But sometimes these things do more damage. Sometimes they really do color how a story is covered outside the right-wing bubble. Will that happen this time? Will the wingers be able to turn this decontextualized soundbite into a deceptive sign of Secretary Clinton's indifference?

This is an Andrew Breitbart/James O'Keefe tactic, but its use is not limited to O'Keefe and the carriers of the Breitbart torch -- this is a mainstream GOP tactic. The entire party and all its coat-holders are on board.

I can't believe how stupid this is. It won't be just the "deranged" right-wing Breitbart/O'Keefe-bots trotting out the "what difference does it make?" soundbite all night. Every single network will air it because it's a Michael Kinsley gaffe. Hillary amits that the White House didn't give a shit about the truth. Their goal was to deflect the public from the truth, and they did so for weeks. It makes all the difference in the world what version of events plays in the public mind. Nothing I've seen of Hillary's testimony discredits the criticism that the White House politicized its response to the attack. She even threw Ambassador Susan Rice under the bus. Hillary's covering her ass while spinning a bunch of transparency bullshit to evade the real truth of it all: the lives of our personnel were less important than getting this president reelected. And that's why the left has pooh-poohed this entire debacle since September 11. All of the administration's foreign and national security policies have been about amassing and retaining power. From appeasing the Muslim world to grandstanding on human rights to creating a kill list to liquidate those who would expose Barack Hussein's anti-terror hypocrisies, this administration has been a disaster for U.S. interests in the world and for the lives of Americans at home and abroad. That's what difference it makes. At least folks like the late Andrew Breitbart, and James O'Keefe who continues his work, have been willing to point it out.

More from Robert Stacy McCain, "Liberal Blogger: ‘How Dare You Smear Hillary by Quoting Her Accurately!’" (via Memeorandum).

PHOTOSHOP CREDIT: Geri Hendricks on Twitter.

PREVIOUSLY:

* "'I take responsibility ... I put my arms around the wives left to raise their children ...'"

* "John McCain Questions Hillary Clinton on Benghazi."

* "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Testimony Before House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

'I take responsibility ... I put my arms around the wives left to raise their children ...'

London's Daily Mail has a big write-up, "Tearful Hillary Clinton chokes up as she testifies before Congress over Benghazi attack that killed U.S. ambassador."

The House testimony just started, live at CNN.

I'll be updating...

PREVIOUSLY:

* "John McCain Questions Hillary Clinton on Benghazi."

* "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Testimony Before House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

Nigella Lawson Heats Up 'The Taste'!

I tweeted with glee last night, at 9:05pm, actually:

Watching @nigella_lawson on @thetasteabc right now. Oh là là!! #Food @rsmccain
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 23, 2013

And now here's this at London's Daily Mail, "Nigella Lawson unleashes her feminine charms while flirting her way through new US cookery show The Taste."

She's a hottie, as I posted previously, "Charles Saatchi Wife Nigella Lawson 'Has Seduced Millions of Television Viewers with Her Culinary skills' and 'Flirtatious Camera Manner'."

ADDED: Here's a little teaser Q&A with Nigella and Anthony Bourdain, at ABC's YouTube channel.

It's a great show. I'll be watching through the season. I love Nigella's accent. Very classy.

ABC's Terry Moran Smears Sen. Rand Paul as 'Chickenhawk'

Pathetic, but typical.

I tweeted and Twitchy picked it up, among others, "Pathetic: ABC’s Terry Moran tries to play chickenhawk card with Rand Paul."

@terrymoran Are you calling him a chicken hawk. I never served in military but have Ph.D. in poli. sci. Can I criticize foreign policy?
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 23, 2013

More from Bridget Johnson at PJ Media, "ABC Reporter: But What Does Rand Paul Know About Foreign Policy?"

RELATED: At NewsBusters, "ABC's Moran Delights Over the 'President With a Purpose' and His 'History-Making Call to Action'."

Right.

Moran's basically a Democrat operative with press credentials. Asshole.

Fewer Than 4 in 10 Americans Positive About State of the Nation

At Gallup, "Americans Downbeat on State of U.S., Prospects for Future":

The 39% of Americans who give a six to 10 rating when asked to evaluate the nation's current status is similar to the 37% who said the same three years ago. Prior to that, however, assessments were generally more positive, including a 73% six to 10 rating in January 2001 -- the highest on record. The three previous points in time when ratings were as low as or lower than the 2013 rating were in August 1979 (34%), April 1974 (33%), and January 1971 (39%). The 1979 measure came at a time when the economy was in bad shape and inflation was rampant, while the 1974 measure came in the midst of the Watergate scandal. When Gallup first asked the question in August 1959, 68% of Americans rated the state of the nation in the six to 10 range.

And check that partisan breakdown at the table. That's a 60 point split between the parties. The Democrats no doubt see the U.S. that much closer to their long-sought socialist utopia after Obama completes his second term. Republicans on the other hand are watching their nation's liberty being dismantled before their eyes, and they're becoming resigned to it. Optimism has historically been a key indicator of the American outlook. Traditional, God-fearing citizens are losing it.

RELATED: Bill Quick links to my previous post on Obama raping America. I said "I don't know this country anymore," and he writes:

Well, you don’t know Barky’s country…but I’m not convinced his country is actually, you know America. At least large parts of it.

We'll see. I think folks are losing faith, clearly demonstrated in opinion on the future of the country.

MORE: John Hawkins says quit moaning and fight! See, "2/23/2013 Will Be A Day of Resistance."

Well, let's stipulate that not everyone's losing faith. Some folks feel they've got no choice but to fight. And with so many people alienated and pessimistic, there's a huge pool of latent revolutionaries brewing. Old Barack Hussein ain't doing himself no favors with all that escalating polarization. But that's all he knows.

Stay tuned...

HAT TIP: iOWNTHEWORLD.

Rising Inequality is Obama's Real Legacy

At IBD, "Obama Promises to Fix Inequality After Making It Worse":

A centerpiece of President Obama's second inaugural address was a call for greater economic equality, with the president saying that "our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it."

But that's precisely what's happened over the past four years, as Obama's economic policies left the majority of Americans falling behind while the wealthy few got further ahead.

Evidence of this is everywhere you look...

Continue reading.

John McCain Questions Hillary Clinton on Benghazi

I'll be updating on this throughout the day. If you're near a television, the hearing is live on CNN.

PREVIOUSLY: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Testimony Before House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

Time for U.S. Forces to Intervene in Mali

Argues James S. Robbins, at USA Today:

With U.S. troops out of Iraq and leaving Afghanistan, the last thing the American people want to hear about is the potential for another war. But the growing conflict in Mali is not a new war; it is another front in the same struggle against violent extremism America has been waging since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The insurgency in northern Mali is a collection of local tribal militias and international jihadists united by a common belief in political Islam and opposition to Western influence. One of the most important members of this coalition is al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. In addition to violently exporting its radical ideology, AQIM is involved in drug smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering and the illicit arms trade.

Obama administration policy precludes direct military assistance to the current government of Mali because it came to power through a coup. However, the United States is not banned from providing assistance to coalition countries attempting to restore stability in the country, or taking independent action against al-Qaeda.

The United States already supplies France with intelligence support, including satellite imagery and signals intercepts. The White House is also considering providing refueling for French aircraft. But there are a variety of additional means the U.S. could employ short of a major ground action...

Maybe the Max Boots of the worldwide will go for this argument, but this is the last thing to expect from the "realist" clusterf-ks in the administration. But RTWT.

And see, from the editors, "Algeria attack on terrorists instructive: Our view."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Testimony Before House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Pamela Geller has it:

I expect that Clinton will lie. Profusely. She is a liar. Her husband is a liar. She lives a lie. But this is hardly a game, and national security is a stake. This is her last act as the less than stellar Secretary of State. Legislators must get to the bottom of the epic failures of Benghazi that led to murder of our Ambassador and three U.S. attaches.

Obama's foreign policy failures are without equal...

Also at Fox News, "Clinton set for long-awaited Libya testimony, as senator urges 'top-to-bottom review'."

The House testimony should be starting now, on C-SPAN. And then the Senate hearing later today.

CORRECTION: She's testifying right now, before the Senate. And I'm watching live on CNN.

And at Jammie Wearing Fools, "Hillary Feigns Crocodile Tears at Benghazi Hearing."

I caught this. Indeed, truly stunning, at Twitchy, "Hysterical Hillary: ‘What difference does it make’ why 4 Americans are dead?"

More at Twitchy.

Israel Elections Seen as Rebuke to Netanyahu

I was busy yesterday and thus had no time to follow the elections to Israel's Knesset.

Israel Matzav was live blogging and has continuing updates.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Israel elections deal a major setback to Netanyahu":

JERUSALEM — Israeli voters dealt a stunning political rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leaving parliamentary elections in a virtual tie between the right and center-left and denying him the mandate he sought to pursue hawkish policies toward Palestinian peace talks, Iran's nuclear program and construction of West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu was still regarded as the most likely candidate to form a new government after Tuesday's voting because there are few other credible figures. But the disappointing performance will require him to reach out to the center in order to form a governing coalition.

With all but votes from prisoners, military voters and some government workers counted early Wednesday, Israel's conservative and religious parties had won 60 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, the same number won by centrist and left-wing parties, who were led by a surprisingly strong performance from a political newcomer, Yair Lapid.

Though the final tally could change slightly, the close race all but ensures a period of turmoil before a new government emerges, and catapults Lapid and his recently formed centrist party, Yesh Atid ("There Is a Future"), into the forefront of Israeli politics. The party formed by the charismatic former TV broadcaster won 19 seats, the second-highest number of any party.

Amid a stronger-than-expected voter turnout of 67% — up from 65% in 2009 — the conservative bloc fell five seats short of the 65 seats it amassed four years ago, while the center-left parties picked up five.

More at that top link.

And at the New York Times, "Tepid Vote for Netanyahu in Israel Is Seen as Rebuke" (via Memeorandum).

Rare Agreement on the Left's Reign of Terror Against America's Unborn

An awesome segment from last night's Hannity, in which Katie Pavlich and Democrat strategist Penny Lee find grounds for mutual agreement on the left's "pro-choice" holocaust .

Are You Not Entertained?

Via American Digest, "LowInfo Voters Fired Up and Ready to Go."

Well, we're not quite Rome yet, but the possible endings are intriguing, in any case.

'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'

From Taylor Swift, the woman who seems unable to get it together with dudes in the first place. But whatever:

And a London's Daily Mail, "'It's been weird and sad, but Taylor Swift has helped me through': Selena Gomez on life after Justin Bieber."

Teeny-bop rock. Oh, to be a kid again. The heartbreaks!

BONUS: "Back off Taylor! Michael J. Fox says he wouldn't want Swift to date his son Sam."

Phil 'Lefty' Mickelson Offends the Lefties

I commented on this yesterday, "Golfer Phil Mickelson Speaks Out Against Confiscatory Tax Rates":

And there's more at the Wall Street Journal, "The Mickelson Vote":

California golfer Phil "Lefty" Mickelson says he will no longer publicly criticize the government for taking most of his paycheck. That's a shame. But even if it's now socially unacceptable for high achievers to suggest they should keep the fruits of their labor, that doesn't mean they will keep supplying that labor.

After a brilliant round Sunday at a tournament in La Quinta, California, Mr. Mickelson hinted that new tax burdens might drive him out of the state, out of professional golf, and perhaps even out of the country. "There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state, and it doesn't work for me right now," he said. "So I'm going to have to make some changes."

The fan favorite who has won 40 events on the PGA tour described various state and federal levies and concluded that his tax rate now exceeds 60%. The sticker shock is understandable, now that President Obama has succeeded in raising the top income-tax rate this year to 39.6% from 35% and the top Medicare rate almost a full point to 3.8%. Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown persuaded Californians last fall to raise the top state income tax rate to 13.3%.

Mr. Mickelson was beginning to spark a useful conversation about the way that confiscatory tax rates discourage productive effort. But the critics began to emerge on various websites, and, alas, on Monday night the golfer took a rhetorical mulligan...

RTWT.

And see IBD, "Don't Take Rich Golfers For Granted."

Ben Shapiro's Killer Interview With Mark Levin

This thing is a doozy.

See, "Exclusive: Mark Levin's Inaugural Day Message — Fight!"

I love this part:

The Democrat Party is now a radical 1960s party; it’s the anti-Constitution, anti-capitalism, anti-individual party. It largely controls the federal government, including the massive bureaucracy and much of the judiciary -- what I call the permanent branches of the federal government. The Democrat Party represents the federal government, and the federal government expands the power of the Democrat Party. They're appendages of each other. On the other hand, the GOP today stands for capitulation, timidity, delusion -- so mostly nothing. Republicans may speak of the Constitution, limited government, low taxes, etc., but what have they done about them? Next to nothing if not nothing. Even when Bush 43 was president and the Republicans controlled Congress. What did they do? They went on a spending binge. They expanded Medicare, the federal role in local education, drove up the debt, etc. Meanwhile, we are lectured by putative Republicans like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Tom Ridge, and a conga line of others trashing often viciously NOT Obama and what the Democrats are doing to our nation, but conservatives, constitutionalists, and tea party activists who are the only people left standing for liberty against tyranny in this country."

Levin pulls no punches. The Republican Party is an establishment institution. It's been deeply implicated in the explosion of government, and not insignificantly in the growth of out of control spending. But RTWT. We won't restore liberty in this country unless we heed warnings like this, notwithstanding differences here and there on the ultimate role of government.

RELATED: Eric Erickson apparently took some heat for congratulating President Obama on his second inauguration, and there's a thread at Memeorandum.

Robert Stacy McCain responds to Erickson, quite effectively, I might add. See, "Democrats: You Can Never Hate Them Nearly as Much as They Hate You."

More later...

Fortieth Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Now, back to what I was about to post before I found Kathy Kattenburg attacking me in the comments.

Today's the 40th anniversary of Roe. More people think abortion should be illegal except with rare exceptions (35 percent) than think it should be legal in all circumstances (31 percent). Altogether, 67 percent oppose an unlimited right to an abortion. My view is that abortion is murder and a moral abomination. Policy wise, I'd prefer Roe overturned with states allowed to regulate the right to abortion based on local values and considerations. I do agree it's a liberty issue, although I'm personally horrified that abortion is pushed by the left as simply a matter of contraception. There is no concern for the life of the unborn and the feminist misanthropy for abortion rights literally makes me puke.

In any case, here's this from Jill Stanek, "Pro-life video of the day: The 40 Film."

Kathy Kattenburg: 'That's Not a Kaffiyeh [sic], Donald. You Are an Idiot...'

Just getting back online right now, I find this comment from radical leftist and progressive death apologist and denier, Kathy Kattenburg:

That's not a kaffiyah, Donald. You are an idiot. And stop trying to pass yourself off as pro-life, and advocates of legal abortion as pro-death. You are not pro-life.

There's a lot that pisses me off about hate-addled progressives, but honestly, their despicable lies are infuriating. Kathy's wrong. The woman at WSJ's abortion report is wearing an Arafat keffiyeh, which is spelled with an "e" not an "a" --- not to pick, but who's calling whom and idiot? Here's the woman's picture from yesterday's post:

And here's a picture of the now-dead Palestinian terrorist leader Yasser Arafat, with the identical scarf:

And here's the description of the keffiyeh at Wikipedia, where the photo is placed:

Traditionally worn by Palestinian farmers, the keffiyeh was worn by Palestinian men of every rank. It became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s. Its prominence increased in the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat.

The keffiyeh would later become a trademark symbol of Arafat, who was rarely seen without a distinctively-arranged black-and-white scarf. (Only occasionally did he wear a military cap or, in colder climates, a Russian-style fur hat called ushanka). Arafat would wear his keffiyeh in semi-traditional way, around the head and wrapped by an agal. He also wore a similarly patterned piece of cloth in the neckline of his military fatigues. Early on, he had made it his personal trademark to drape the scarf over his right shoulder only, arranging it in the rough shape of a triangle, to resemble the outlines of the territory claimed by Palestine. This way of wearing the keffiyeh became a symbol of Arafat as a person and political leader, and it has not been imitated by other Palestinian leaders.

Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawson's Field hijackings. These photos often included Khaled wearing a keffiyeh in the style of a Muslim woman’s hijab, wrapped around the head and shoulders. This was unusual, as the keffiyeh is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a fashion statement by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian armed struggle.

Speaking of Leila Khaled, here's my photo of her iconic terrorist portrait from UCLA Israel Apartheid Week. Again, the design is exactly the same as that of the keffiyeh worn by the woman in the picture above.

The pro-choice activist's keffiyeh is an Arafat scarf, the exact same style that the terrorist leader wore when he was leader of the PLO and, obviously, when he was meeting with East European Communist dictators such as Romania's Nicolae Ceauşescu, pictured with Arafat above in 1974.

Leftist's won't argue on the merits. People like Kathy Kattenburg are hateful liars in the most vile Orwellian mode, attempting to change language to camouflage their ideological evil. And people like this are the reason that our work on the right is never done. Because the brighter the light of truth we shine of the left, the more aggressive the left becomes with their lies and Orwellian doublespeak.

Right On: Britain's Prince Harry, 'I've Killed Taliban'

At least someone's not shy of saying it: the goal is to kill the enemy, the more the better.

At Mirror UK, "'Take a life to save a life': Prince Harry reveals he killed Taliban fighters during Afghan tour of duty."

Obama Inverted the True Meaning of the American Creed

Again, I'm happy to see that others understand just how horribly the president raped America's founding values.

See Quin Hillyer, at National Review, "Inverting the Founders":

President Obama has become a master at the trick of couching progressive prescriptions in the language of the traditional American creed — thus effecting a deliberate inversion of that creed’s actual meaning. That’s exactly what he did with his second inaugural address, using the language of the American Founding to promote collectivism in almost all areas of life. The hinge came in a single clause which sounded oh-so-reasonable and inarguable, but which instead was a non sequitur in terms of its logic and a bastardization of the principles of that creed. “Preserving our individual freedoms,” he said, “ultimately requires collective action.” From that moment on, he was off and running toward a vision in which individual initiative is not just unavailing toward its ends, but actually suspect.

Continue reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "Obama's Inaugural Address Wasn't 'Grounded in Language of Founding Fathers,' He Raped Thomas Jefferson for Radical Collectivist Agenda."

After Deaths, Costa Mesa Finds Ways to Protect the Homeless

People have been freezing to death.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Costa Mesa confronts homelessness head-on."

Read it at the link. Recent temperatures have been in the 30s overnight and the city is now busing people to Santa Ana, to spend the night at the armory there.

Here's the Google map of Lion's Park in Costa Mesa, where the homeless congregate. It's not far from my home, just up the 55 Freeway a bit.

We the Government

This Wall Street Journal editorial raises some of the exact same points I raised earlier:

President Obama's second inaugural address won't be remembered for stirring lines, but then its purpose seemed to be more political than inspirational. Mr. Obama was laying down a marker that he has no intention of letting debt or deficits or lagging economic growth slow his plans for activist, expansive government.

Inaugurals usually include calls for national unity and appeals to our founding principles, which is part of their charm. With the election long over, swearing in a President is a moment for celebrating larger national purposes. But Mr. Obama's speech was notable for invoking the founding principles less to unify than to justify what he called "collective action." The President borrowed the Constitution's opening words of "we the people" numerous times, but his main theme was that the people are fundamentally defined through government action, and his government is here to help you...

Exactly, although I wasn't quite so elegant in my points: "Obama's Inaugural Address Wasn't 'Grounded in Language of Founding Fathers,' He Raped Thomas Jefferson for Radical Collectivist Agenda."

But continue reading at WSJ.

Golfer Phil Mickelson Speaks Out Against Confiscatory Tax Rates

Everybody should be speaking out, but a popular golfer like Mickelson's bound to get some added attention.

At the New York Times, "Uneasy in the Political Climate, Mickelson Talks Like Someone Ready to Step Away":

LA QUINTA, Calif. — After a middle-of-the-pack finish in his 2013 debut, Phil Mickelson stood off the 18th green at the Palmer Private course at PGA West on Sunday and talked about having to make, in his own words, “drastic changes.”

He was not referring to his equipment. Mickelson, already one of the highest-earning athletes on the planet, is not considering switching the clubs in his bag or the clothes on his back, the way the world No. 1, Rory McIlroy, did last week after signing a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike.

On the day President Obama was sworn in for his second term, Mickelson sent shock waves through the Humana Challenge when he said the political landscape in the United States was causing him to seriously contemplate his future in golf. Mickelson, who will turn 43 in June, has 40 PGA Tour victories, including four majors, and was inducted last year into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“I’m not going to jump the gun and do it right away,” he said after carding a six-under-par 66 to finish in a 10-way tie for 37th, “but there are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state. And, you know, it doesn’t work for me right now. So I’m going to have to make some changes.”

As Mickelson spoke, the tournament was winding down to a scintillating conclusion. Brian Gay, who began the final round six strokes off the lead, closed with a nine-under 63 to end regulation tied with David Lingmerth (62) and Charles Howell III (64). He won with a 5-foot birdie on the second hole of the sudden-death playoff.

Scott Stallings, the 54-hole leader, made his first bogey of the tournament on his seventh hole and finished with a 70 to tie for fourth with James Hahn, who capped his 62 with an eagle-3 at the 18th.

Finishing eight strokes out of the playoff was Mickelson, who played the final three rounds in 17 under par but could not climb out of the hole he dug for himself with a par 72 start at La Quinta Country Club.

“I played better as the week wore on,” Mickelson said. He added: “I feel like I’m starting to play some pretty good golf. So hopefully I’ll be able to make a run on the weekend next week, because that’s what’s exciting is having a chance to win.”

Mickelson, the reigning champion at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, has more than $67 million in career earnings since turning professional in 1992. Last year, he was ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh highest-paid athlete, with $47.8 million in earnings, including $43 million in endorsements.

“If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and state, my tax rate is 62, 63 percent,” Mickelson said. “So I’ve got to make some decisions on what to do.”

Mickelson, who lives with his wife, Amy, and their three children outside San Diego, his hometown, said he planned to elaborate on his comments in more detail this week when the tour stopped in his backyard, at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif.

I haven't heard anyone quoting that high an effective tax rate, of 62 or 63 percent, but Mickelson's figures are in the ballpark from previous estimates. Recall the Tax Prof, "Top Marginal Tax Rate Will Exceed 50% in California, New York, and Hawaii in 2013."

Obama Unbound: Inaugural Speech Declares Era of Big Government Back

From Charles Krauthammer's comments this afternoon, at RCP, "Krauthammer: Obama Speech 'A Declaration That the Era of Big Government Is Back'."

There's video at the link.

Wall Street Journal's Roe v. Wade Article Features Photo of Pro-Choice Activist Wearing Arafat Keffiyeh, Symbol of Palestinian Terrorism

Here's the report, "Support Grows for Roe v. Wade."

And the photo's from the European Pressphoto Agency. What a way to make a statement. Progressives are about killing. Be it Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists or unborn babies killed by the left's pro-death fanatics, the end result is the same: an utter disregard for basic human decency and human life. (Via Memeorandum.)

Obama's Inaugural Address Wasn't 'Grounded in Language of Founding Fathers,' He Raped Thomas Jefferson for Radical Collectivist Agenda

The idiot Greg Sargent spins the president's disastrous inaugural speech, "An expansive case for progressive governance, grounded in language of Founding Fathers" (via Memeorandum).

No, Obama didn't "ground" his speech in the Founding Fathers. He threw the Founding Fathers to the ground, butt-reamed them, especially Thomas Jefferson, to gratify his monstrous collectivist urges, to push his extremist collectivist agenda that bears absolutely no resemblance to the limited government vision enshrined in both the Declaration and the Constitution.

Here's this from Sargent's piece:

Today, Obama quoted extensively from the Declaration, and declared that it is our challenge to “bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.” He then went on to make the case for robust government activism in the economy — precisely in order to preserve individual freedom, i.e., the ability to pursue happiness. He linked this to the need for more government investment in infrastructure and education. For rules designed to ensure fair market competition. For maintaining the social safety net (in the form of Social Security and Medicare, achieved by two great Democratic presidents). For the need for a greater push for equal pay for women and full equality for gay Americans (which Obama linked to the struggle for civil rights for African Americans by invoking Martin Luther King).

Obama tempered his communitarian language by claiming it is not incompatible with “skepticism of central authority,” but the clear statement of his governing philosophy, which he insisted is rooted in our founding principles, was unequivocal: “Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”

We'll be seeing a lot of commentary on this speech over the next couple of days, but it bears noting that Jefferson's theory of "all men are created equal" is rooted in God-given rights. Obama made only the barest, most perfunctory reference to our Creator. He simply doesn't ground the source of human dignity in a higher power but in the all-enveloping arms of the state. And in making his case, he smacks the Founders to the pavement and abuses their theories in the name of state power. It's perverse and obscene. I don't know this country anymore.

CNN's Jim Acosta: 'I Feel Like I Should Pinch Myself Right Now...'

Yeah, this is what I was talking about.

At NewsBusters, "Giddy CNN Correspondent: ‘I Feel Like I Should Pinch Myself Right Now’."

CNN correspondent Jim Acosta was positively giddy while covering President Obama's inauguration parade on Monday afternoon, and didn't hold back his feelings on-air.

"You know, I feel like I should pinch myself right now, Wolf. I can't believe I have this vantage point of history in the making," Acosta gushed...

Even the normally staid Wolf Blitzer couldn't contain himself. He was screaming for the attention of "Mr, President, Mr. President," like a giddy schoolgirl needing to be restrained. Sheesh.

Barack Hussein Obama's Second Presidential Inauguration

When I started listening to the president's speech I immediately had the urge to go back and listen to previous inauguration speeches, Ronald Reagan's 1981 speech especially. It's as if Barack Hussein is President of the Union of Socialist States of America. Really. He wasn't shy about proclaiming a new definition of our founding creed, that the words of the Declaration, that all humankind are created equal, "have never been self-executing." It's a collectivist's nirvana in Washington today. And watching the coverage on CNN it's clear that the press is just reveling in this orgy of mass obliteration of the individualist heritage of our nation. Say your prayers, people. We've got a hill to climb this next four year. The left has erected an enormous mountain redoubt of statist power.

The New York Times has a lengthy overview, "Obama Sets Goal to Broaden Equality." And the text of the president's address is at the Wall Street Journal, "President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address."

I'll have more observations throughout the day. For example, the inaugural parade was pretty fascinating, especially the mind-boggling amount of security on hand. I literally felt nervous for a second when the president and the first lady got out of the limousine walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that there are people out there who'd love to see this president shot dead, more dead than perhaps any president before.

In any case, William Jacobson has more, "Obama Inaugural Speech — Collectivist We." And also at Memeorandum.

Governor Brown Seeks Dramatic Community College Makeover

There's a lot coming down the pipeline, and much of it good, although community colleges just won't be anything like they used to be. And that's a little sad if you've ever been around one for any length of time.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Brown seeks to reshape California's community colleges":

With a slate of bold and controversial budget proposals, Gov. Jerry Brown has placed a renewed focus on the state's struggling community colleges, the world's largest system of two-year schools that are often overshadowed by the University of California and Cal State systems.

The governor's recommendations are aimed at keeping community colleges affordable, keeping classes accessible and moving students faster through the system to allow them to graduate or transfer to a four-year university at higher rates. Brown's spending plan must clear the Legislature, and some college officials have vowed to oppose — or at least try to modify — some portions.

These proposals are among the most significant policy shifts in years and could reshape many campus operations.

"It's a courageous plan," said Eloy Oakley, president of Long Beach City College. "The governor is focusing on policy issues we've been talking about for many years but dancing around the margins. A lot of this has been on the table in statehouses throughout the nation, but we're addressing these issues in California in a meaningful way."

Community colleges play a vital role in California's higher education system, training large segments of the state's workforce. But the 112-college system has strained under the pressure of huge funding cuts and increased demand. Thousands of courses have been slashed and enrollment has been shrunk by more 500,000 students in recent years.

Most of the schools' 2.4-million students are unprepared for college-level work: 85% need remedial English, 73% need remedial math and only about a third of remedial students transfer to a four-year school or graduate with a community college associate's degree.

Education leaders praised the governor's efforts to follow through on his commitment to voters to restore education funding through the passage of Proposition 30, the school tax initiative —- even while expressing misgivings about aspects of the plan. The budget includes nearly $200 million in additional funding for the colleges.

"It's wonderful to have an environment where we're going to have some provocative conversations about policy," said community colleges Chancellor Brice Harris. "We're not going to shy away and [we] actually look forward to the discussion."

State officials said the plan is meant to build on changes proposed last year by a statewide task force charged with improving the colleges. Measures approved by the Legislature and Board of Governors establish registration priorities, including preventing students from repeating courses to improve their grades and allowing students who participate in orientation and academic assessment programs and have 100 units or less to enroll in classes first. Students also would have to maintain satisfactory grades to continue to qualify for fee waivers.

Brown goes further toward moving students through the system. He is seeking to limit the number of credits students can accumulate. Beginning next fall, he suggests a cap on state-subsidized classes at 90 units, requiring students who exceed that to pay the full cost of instruction, about $190 per semester unit versus $46 per unit. In the 2009-10 academic year, nearly 120,000 students had earned 90 units or more.

Students said they are particularly concerned that the unit cap is punitive for those who have a double major, who may be returning to college to train for a new job or who want to explore their interests before deciding on a field of study.

"We're going to work very hard to get rid of this," said Rich Copenhagen, a College of Alameda student who is president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. "The governor does seem to be interested in pushing through a lot of policy in this budget. He's in a position to say I got you more money, now you need to make your system better."

Perhaps one of the more controversial elements of Brown's plan is to change the funding formula for community colleges to pay schools for students who complete courses. Funding is now based on the number of students enrolled at the third or fourth week of the term.

The goal, said state officials, is to provide incentives for colleges to improve.

That's my college president, Eloy Oakley, interviewed for the article. And the piece mentions both of the key reforms coming down the pike, the cap on the number of credits students can accumulate at 90 (without losing subsidized tuition rates) and the shift in how colleges are paid by the state, to apportionment by how many students complete classes rather than by the number still attending at the fourth week of classes. That second reform would be devastating to community college funding, because so many students are remedial. But it's a good reform. All of these are good if they force people to wake the f-k up. The two-year colleges could make a small step toward being real colleges teaching real college-level academics. As it stands now a lot of what we do is a joke. We have a decent number of students who would excel at any college or university, but the great majority aren't ready to do the work. Things do need to change.

Terror Threat Prompts U.S. Rethink on Africa

The threat should force a rethink on U.S. security policy in Africa. Whether it does remains to be seen, and considering that the administration's going ever more "realist" with its defense appointments, I'm not holding my breath.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Developments in Mali and Algeria Spur Debate Within Obama Administration About America's Military Role on Continent":

WASHINGTON—The White House has promoted a strategy of keeping as light a U.S. footprint as possible in Africa, focusing on training and funding local militaries and providing logistical and intelligence support to African Union-led combat operations.

But events in Mali, Algeria and other countries are now spurring a reconsideration of the military role the U.S. should take on the continent, U.S. officials said.

The White House and African analysts have voiced fears that a more direct U.S. role could weaken local governments and further inflame Islamist extremism. U.S. officials have also questioned the direct national security threat posed by such Africa-based militants as AQIM, Somalia's al-Shabaab militia and the Lord's Resistance Army in central Africa.

Obama administration officials said this strategic view is being challenged by the rising terrorist activities in North Africa, including the abduction this week of Western hostages, including Americans, working at a natural-gas field in Algeria. Reports that the militants are demanding the release of two Islamic extremists from American prisons have emphasized their conflict with the U.S.

The hostage crisis follows September's terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans. Piracy linked to Islamist extremists also is posing a rising threat to international shipping off Africa.

Some American military officials said this week that AQIM, which is also active in Libya, Morocco, and Algeria, has grown more dangerous, more quickly than many assumed several years ago.

The Obama administration this month said it is providing limited logistical and intelligence support to a French military intervention in northern Mali, where Islamists militants fighting under the banner of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, have carved a regional haven.

The quick rise of Islamist militants, officials said, may mean that drones assigned to hunt al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan, or al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, could be reassigned to Africa.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview that he still doesn't see a cohesive administration approach to countering gains by al Qaeda and Islamist militants across the continent. "You have to have an overarching policy that puts pressure on these groups from every corner," he said. "That is what's missing."

President Barack Obama could visit Africa this year, making stops in several democratic countries, administration officials said.

Yeah, that Mike Rogers nails it.

But continue reading at the link.

MAP CREDIT: The Other McCain.

'Ever the Same'

Rob Thomas, in an interesting live clip:

Song background at Wikipedia.

We were drawn from the weeds
We were brave like soldiers
Falling down under the pale moonlight
You were holding to me
Like someone broken
And I couldn't tell you, but I'm telling you now

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

Fall on me
Tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you, forever in me
Ever the same

We would stand in the wind
We were free like water
Flowing down
Under the warmth of the sun
Now it's cold and we're scared
And we've both been shaken
Hey, look at us man...
This doesn't need to be the end!

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
And I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same

You may need me there
To carry all your weight
But you're no burden I assure
You tide me over
With a warmth I'll not forget
But I can only
give you love

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same

Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same

Ever the same..

Inauguration Day: How Emancipated Are We Really?

That's not my question.

It belongs to communist Laura Flanders, at the Guardian UK, "At Obama's second inauguration, how emancipated are we really?"

She attempts, rather badly, to make some historical analogies to current American politics, but her bottom line is this paragraph:

How emancipated are we today? It depends on whom you talk to and which questions you ask. Judged against slavery, today's society is relatively free – but what a standard! To recall the Eldridges and Tubman, the means that people need to live freely are still stratified, and along the old tracks. Quality education, housing, work, health; we've legislated away the old "whites only" signs, but look at wealth, the most decisive indicator of access to any of those things.

Freedom for communists is economic equality. It does not matter that President Obama is being elected to a second term and that that's not a deal. We crossed that racial milestone four years ago. It can be done.

BONUS: A Flanders interview at the Stalinist Counterpunch Magazine, "An Interview with Laura Flanders on Alexander Cockburn."

Encouraging Young Women to Cherish Their Self-Worth

"Self-Worth and the Hookup Culture," via Anna Maria Hoffman:

Will the Real Moderate Palestinians Please Stand Up?

From Professor Michael Curtis, at American Thinker:

The Western media has been eager to proclaim that Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, and Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator of the PLO, can be regarded as Palestinian moderates and believe in genuine peace with Israel. Indeed, Erekat did write recently that a two-state solution is the best for all concerned, though he added that the Israeli government does not admit it.

Yet, it is right to be wary of this characterization of moderation. Are there indeed Palestinian leaders whose position is more moderate than that of the acknowledged extremists? One must also ask the question about those Arab leaders who, according to mainstream media, may be pursuing policies of political moderation, given the revelations in recent days of the horrific extreme bigoted comments made by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi about Jews and Zionists, "bloodsuckers who attack Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs."

The stance of Hamas, and its leader Khaled Meshal, is clear to all except the majority bloc in the United Nations General Assembly which consistently proposes and votes for anti-Israeli resolutions. Not surprisingly, Meshal expressed delight when shells fired from the Gaza Strip reached Tel Aviv. He remains committed to violence as the way to victory and liberation. No one can misconstrue his words, "The West Bank is inseparable from Gaza, and they are both inseparable from Haifa, Jaffa, Beersheva, and Safed... Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, is our land, our right, and our homeland."

Does President Abbas agree with this view? In an interview on December 9, 2012 he spoke of the desirability of reconciliation of his Fatah group with Hamas, and the "unity of our people...when we are talking about a Palestinian state." The two Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, are supposed to be seeking such reconciliation under Egyptian auspices. But it is difficult to envisage a compromise between the two groups and their positions if that of Fatah is considered a sincere one of moderation and of "peaceful popular resistance."

It is equally difficult to accept Fatah's behavior as responsible when President Abbas sought by taking unilateral action to have the United Nations agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.

More at that top link.