Photographic Evidence Debunks Sarah Palin Breast Implant Smear

Yeah, I posted on this already, but it's too good to resist. At JammieWearingFool, "Smoking Gun Evidence Palin Did Not Have Boob Job" and the Alaska Department of Military & Veterans Affairs:

Gov. Palin Visits Kuwait

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (July 26, 2007)- During her recent visit to Kuwait , Gov. Sarah Palin accompanied 1st Lt. John Lombrano on a tour of facilities on a military base. Lombrano is commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry, Alaska Army National Guard. Bravo Company provides security for the base. Lombrano lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

As Teri Hatcher "Sidra" might say (or Robert Stacy McCain), "They're real and they're spectacular..."

Google Wallpaper Experiment Crashes

I wondered what was up with my morning searches?

At TechCrunch, "Google Kills Its Homepage Background Image Experiment Early":

Last night, Google decided to temporarily abandon the principles behind its famously spartan homepage in favor of something a little different: a background image, which has been a design element present on rival search engine Bing since it launched. Users predictably went nuts as their clean, bare homepages suddenly featured flowerly hippo things and other colorful photographs. Countless tweets have complained about the images, and our story last night racked up over 200 comments. “Remove google background” is currently the fifth highest trending topic on Google.

Now Google has apparently decided that imposing a background image on users wasn’t such a good idea after all, and they’ve turned off their experiment around ten hours early according to a tweet from Marrisa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience. Users that visit the Google homepage are now shown the normal design, along with a link that says “Curious about today’s homepage? Add your own background image now”.

More at the link.

And at CSM, "Remove Google background, critics plead." CSM compares Google to Facebook, but I'm thinking Sitemeter.

Check Google's blog as well, "The art of a homepage."

Wonkette Attacks Carly 'Chemo Hair' Fiorina's Open Mic Moment

It's kinda creepy, actually, this unguarded open mic moment where Carly Fiorina's prepping for an interview on CNN. She doesn't say anything that's regrettable. But we feel like we're watching through a two-way mirror. But what's really interesting is how the radical left sees her:

Before the rude jackass remarks about Boxer — who has normal political lady hair — you must endure several minutes of Fiorina’s banal blabbing about Sean Hannity while she fiddles with her Blackberry and dismisses emails from people praising her appearance on Fox News. Entitled much, Carly.

Regardless of her unfortunate experience with “chemo hair,” Carly Fiorina is a cretin.

See also NY Daily News, "My mic was on? Senate hopeful Fiorina mocks Barbara Boxer's hair, moans about Fox's Sean Hannity" (via Memeorandum).

I'm all in for Fiorina now. The primaries are over. We'll be seeing the biggest leftist double-standards this side of Sarah Palin. Barbara Boxer will be endlesslessly lauded as a leftist lioness of the Senate, while Fiorina will be mercillessly mocked for her cancer and attacked as a privileged corporate shill. The fear shows on the left, naturally. Folks said Tom Campbell was going to be Boxer's biggest nightmare, but who doesn't like an all-out feminist cat-fight. Fiorina's on top of the issues and she talks business on the economy. This is going to be good.

Tea Party Burnout?

My good friend Dana Loesch argues that there's a bit of fatigue among the tea party patriots. She notes that it's likely an ebb before the surge of November, but for the most part rank-and-file activists have taken time from the careers and families, for well over a year, to mobilize against the Democratic-progressive machine. That does take a toll. I feel it myself.

Still, I'm betting we'll see some pretty big tea party action for the July 4th holiday, as Independence Day falls on a Sunday this year and folks will have some time to get out and protest. Plus, as we've seen in Arizona, immigration has become another big mobilizing issue that's gotten thousands of people out to local events. I'll continue to provide on-the-ground coverage. The tea parties are maturing into a long-term movement, and Dana's right for grassroots activists to resist efforts at cooptation by opportunists. Not all tea party backed candidates won on Tuesday, but the push for limited government (and the pushback against the Obama-progressive-Corruptocrats) is well established by now. And keep your eyes on Nevada especially. If Sharon Angle knocks off Harry Reid in November, it'd be hard to find a more convincing tea party trophy victory. See, "Nevada Challenger Lifted by Tea Party Ardor."

Sarah Palin's Breast Implants?

I know a lot of conservatives have a great time with "Rule 5" weekend distractions, but the real breast obssession is on the left of the spectrum. Wonkette launched the leftist frenzy over Sarah Palin with, "Did Sarah Palin Buy Herself a Couple of Luxury Items?" Gawker picked up the brassiere with, "Did Sarah Palin Get a Boob Job? A Photographic Investigation" (I don't recall previously seeing such busty shots of the former Alaska governor). Conservatives have noticed, for example, Tabitha Hale, "Wonkette: ZOMG!!!11!! PALIN HAS BOOBS!!1!!!!1!!eleventy!!!1." And by now news outlets from London to the O.C. are reporting on Sarah Palin's measurements: At the Daily Mail, "The White House or bust! Has Sarah Palin had a boob job?," and the Orange County Register, "Dubious rumor: Sarah Palin breast implants."

Sarah Palin's a hot, wholesome woman, and she's been the prime target of the radical left since John McCain plucked her from obscurity. But frankly, few things reveal the left's feminist bankrupcty in greater detail. As TigerHawk notes:

... we note that privacy in medical matters is the legal foundation of the Constitutional right to abortion, per Roe v. Wade. This right to privacy is apparently so sacred that (so says the left) it is reasonable to sacrifice fetuses to defend it. One would think that the left, therefore, would be reluctant to intrude on even Sarah Palin's medical privacy. Of course, that would require some measure of intellectual honesty, which is apparently beyond the capacity of many liberals when Sarah Palin is involved.

Year of the Woman? Not for Feminists

I guess it's logical in our identity-obssessed, quota driven politics, but all this talk about "The Year of the Woman" is so yesterday. In California we've had two women senators for two decades. In 2008, Hillary Clinton nearly won the Democratic nomination and Sarah Palin was the GOP vice presidential nominee. And with Elena Kagan's likely confirmation, there'll be three women sitting on the United States Supreme Court. We have full gender equality in the United States. Women are still moving in top positions of power, and their numbers have yet to catch up with men in governmental institutions, but it's silly to deny full equality of opportunity. Indeed, Hanna Rosin at The Atlantic --- a gender extremist if there ever was one, in her demonization of breast-feeding, for example --- is jumping for joy in "The End of Men" from the July/August edition. Sure, a lot of it's over-the-top, but the larger reality of the empowerment of women is no longer in question.

So why all the attention to the string of women's victories in Tuesday's primaries? The press needs a catchy spin, for one thing. Or, more likely, journalists need to feed the cultish mavens of gender equality. For example, at Wall Street Journal, "Women Candidates Come Into Their Own." And at USA Today, "Women candidates play major role in 2010."

But wait! Everything's not so hunky dory on the feminist front. At the Los Angeles Times, "2010: the Year of the Conservative Woman?", you'll notice the stress on "conservative women," as if women on the right aren't for equality. And check the comments at Jezebel, "Meet The Political Ladies Who Triumphed Last Night." Tuesday was a big night for women candidates, but leftists can't stand it:

Republican women politicians (and just in general) are the worst. They want to take away my rights but have the right to keep theirs. Fuck all of these bishes!

I'm all for sisterhood (or whatever) but not if it includes women like these.

*****

Do we really want politicians, even if they are women, making decisions for our states and/or country that includes many people they don't even consider worth their time, not to mention trying to take ownership of our reproductive organs and forcing religion into politics?

*****

Oh hello there women of the GOP. Why don't we make a deal here. I won't try to control your uterus and you don't try to control mine.

That kind of downer on the left has Rachael Larimore asking, "Where’s the Rah-Rah Sisterhood?"

Why the schizophrenia on women's progress? Why the disconnect and disenchantment? Obviously, feminism today is an ideology that leverages victimhood and male-hatred into a regime of abortion-on-demand and gender quota set-asides. It's one of the most important currents on the contemporary radical left. And the trend isn't just isolated to extremist feminist bloggers like Amanda Marcotte or Jessica Valenti. Take a look at Barbara Kellerman's piece at yesterday's Business Week, "Don’t Drink Yet to New ‘Year of the Woman’":

There’s no doubt, obviously, that the role of women in society is changing, in some cases in important ways. Among the changes are those in education, where females are increasingly more educated, better educated and better credentialed than their male counterparts.

But so far as leadership roles are concerned, whether in government or industry, or for that matter in nonprofits and in the military, women in America still badly lag behind. Here are just a few of the figures...

What follows there is a long list of statistics on the comparative indicators of women's progress. But we'll always have differences in achievement in America. We're to the point where women are catching up and surpassing men in the everyday measurements of success such as college attendance and middle-class earnings. That's what Hanna Rosin's boasting about at The Atlantic. And until the rest of the downbeat press corps and radical feminists start picking up that meme, despite increasing female representation in politics, we'll never truly ever have a "Year of the Woman."

California Über Alles

One of the great California punk anthems of all time, The Dead Kennedys, "California Über Alles." (Lyrics here.)

The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay ...

The obvious reference is to former Governor Jerry Brown's nomination last night as the Democratic Party's candidate for governor in 2010. Commenting on the "Fairness Doctrine" in February, Brown, who is currently Attorney General, remarked that, "Well, a little state control wouldn't hurt anybody." (Listen here.)

Brown served previously as California Governor from 1975–1983, prior to the establishment of a two-term limit in 1990. Hence, "Jerry Brown wins Democratic nomination, makes third run for California governor."

Brown runs neck-and-neck in matchups against GOP nominee Meg Whitman (here and here). The Los Angeles Times has an analysis, "Whitman on the right, Brown on the left, voters in the middle." But see Thomas Del Beccaro, at Big Government, "The Top 7 Reasons Meg Whitman Will Beat Jerry Brown."

(And for me, while this is likely not a "Democratic year," Whitman's biggest asset is money --- almost too much money, amazingly.)

Carly Fiorina Wins GOP Senate Nomination

To be honest, I was impressed with Carly Fiorina when I saw her a few weeks back. Like all my friends, I was hoping for a win by Chuck DeVore, a genuine conservative. Fiorina's definitely a fighter, though --- super intelligent, fast on her feet --- and that's important for anyone going up against the pugnacious Barbara Boxer. (See, USA Today, "Fiorina moves fast to attack Sen. Boxer in Calif.")

Plus, at WSJ, "GOP Voters Pick Fiorina in Calif. Senate Primary." A lot of folks'll be stressing the historic victory in Californa for women (gender politics, blah, blah), but it's the magnitude of campaign spending that's interesting, especially Meg Whitman's. See, ABC News, "Female Republican Candidates Nab Key Spots in California Races: Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina Ran Hard-Edged Campaigns Against Established Republicans."

I've been on Twitter tonight, so readers might also follow me there to keep up with the fun breaking stuff.

I'll have more of all my reporting tomorrow.

Gulf Spill Livestream

I've been meaning to repost the live video feed, so thanks to YidWithLid, "Oil Still Leaking, Economy Still in Pits, BUT Obama Still Selling Healthcare Bill":

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Feds May Soon Change Immigration Enforcement Policies

Press release from the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio:

(Phoenix, AZ) Since 2006, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have been responsible for arresting, detaining, or investigating in the jails over 38,000 illegal immigrants that otherwise may have been released back out onto the streets of Maricopa County.

But Sheriff Arpaio is voicing his concern that efforts by his office which have contributed to a reduction in illegal immigration and crime may be trumped by an agenda out of Washington that threatens to reduce local law enforcement’s ability to enforce illegal immigration laws.

John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has recently publicly commented that the new Arizona law is not the solution to immigration enforcement and further added that he may not accept illegal immigrants apprehended by local law enforcement in Arizona.

“It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that substantive changes to illegal immigration enforcement are looming,” Arpaio says. “These changes are likely to be unwelcome by the majority of Arizonans, me included.”

RTWT at the link.

A Switch in Time? John McCain Takes Harder Line on Illegal Immigration

Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth held a fundraising barbeque on June 5th at the Arizona State Capitol. The event followed the "Phoenix Rising" rally. Folks were just starting to check in as I was heading out.

Hayworth is the author of Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security and the War on Terror (a timely book that gives him a lot of credibility on the issue). Plus, SB 1070's in the news all the time. Voters in Arizona want action not platitudes. No wonder Senator McCain's running laughable advertisements. Next to Teddy Kennedy, McCain was the biggest amnesty backer during the 2006 push for comprehensive immigration reform. Now his plug is "complete the danged fence":

In any case, LAT's got a piece on McCain today. It's looking tight, but he should be okay. See, "The immigration factor in McCain's reelection fight":

As a candidate for president, Republican John McCain lamented his party's tough talk on illegal immigration. "In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you'll pay a heavy price," he told a group of Milwaukee businessmen in October 2006.

Back then, some strongly favored walling off the U.S.- Mexico border to address the problem, but not McCain. "I think the fence is least effective," the Arizona senator said.

Lately, however, McCain has transformed himself from a champion of broad-based reform — who spoke of illegal immigrants as "God's children," deserving of love and compassion — into a fierce advocate for the kind of crackdown he once scorned.

In a recent TV ad, McCain blamed illegal immigrants for all manner of problems facing his state: "smuggling, home invasions, murder." It is time, he said, for Washington to "complete the danged fence."

Facing his toughest reelection fight in years, McCain's future may hinge on whether voters see him as honest or opportunistic.

Old allies are dismayed. "Someone who was a visionary ... has gone from being very large to very, very small," said Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who worked with McCain and the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on a bipartisan immigration overhaul bill.

Old foes are dismissive. Among them is former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, McCain's main rival in the August primary and a longtime adversary. "An election-year conversion," Hayworth said.

The more important verdict, however, rests with voters like Linda Stapley-Williams, 60, a retired high school teacher and GOP activist in Mesa. She wonders: "Did he change his position as he was exposed to new information? Because that can be an admirable thing. Or did he change his opinion because the outcry was so overwhelming and there was no way he was going to get reelected if he didn't?"

McCain — who holds a comfortable, if not overwhelming, lead in polls — declined to be interviewed. Last month he told the Arizona Republic it was "a political ploy" to say he changed his immigration stance.

RELATED: Background at ABC News, "Fierce Struggle for McCain to Retain Arizona Seat: Sen. McCain in battle for political life in Arizona against conservative former Rep. Hayworth," and at Arizona Republic, "McCain, Hayworth campaigns battle over lobbyist ties."

See also Rasmussen in May, "Election 2010: Arizona Republican Primary for Senate: Arizona Senate GOP Primary: McCain 52%, Hayworth 40%."

California Primary Day

The main story's at LAT, "Poizner, Whitman spar in final round of campaign" (via Memeorandum). But at the video, it's big money and feminism that's the rage. I'm glad women are breaking barriers, although Whitman's plainly spending her way into office, and after today she'll emerge as just another RINO. Carly Fiorina's also well in front in the GOP Senate race, and I'm only slightly warmer for her. But we'll see. You might say "Anybody but Boxer."

I'll have more election analysis tonight. Meanwhile, check Politico, "Tuesday targets: Nine races to watch," and Chris Cillizza, "Super Duper Tuesday: What to Watch For" (via Mememorandum).

Leftists Cheerfully Defend Helen Thomas' Anti-Semitism

I guess for radical leftists context is supposed to inoculate Helen Thomas from her own anti-Semitic vitriol.

See John Cole, "You Got Played":

Clearly, this woman is evil beyond words. The way she smiled at those Jewish kids while giving them friendly advice to enter careers in journalism so they can have fulfilling lives of learning and accomplishment when secretly, I have been assured by liberals and others, what she really wants is to transport them back to the gas ovens of the Holocaust.

Nice try.

Just watch the clip. No context can save Helen Thomas from what's clearly a vicious statement against Israel and a rejection of the Jewish state's right to exist.

And c'mon. The leftist reaction is just too pat. I mean seriously, check out this Israel-basher at NewsJunkie, "Helen Thomas: No Apologies Necessary":

Helen Thomas’ statements were about policy, not people, and for that, we should not have lost her. To liken what Helen has said to racist rants inviting African-Americans to return to Africa is disingenuous at best, and more directly, a twisted misinterpretation designed only to silence opposing views to Israeli expansionism ....

Consider the conversation as if it were discussing the occupation forces in Iraq. Change Germany and Poland to the United States and the United Kingdom, or Canada. Realize that what Helen was recommending was that the occupiers return to their country of origin. Helen Thomas is making a statement against a nations foreign policy, not against individuals because of their ethnic group or race. Helen Thomas was not being anti-Semitic or racist. To disagree with Israel, or Israel’s foreign policy, does not make a person anti-Semitic.

Well, no, Thomas wasn't making a policy statement. She was making a personal statement, the ugliness of which ended her career.And Richard Greener's got some historical revisionism at HuffPo:

There was a time when people could take the position that the UN, together with the US and the European Powers, had no business establishing a country called Israel, in a part of the world that was neither the US or Europe, as a Jewish State for Jews who were mainly Europeans. It wasn't a popular position to take. It wasn't a position I would take. But there was a time when expressing that point of view, right here in the United States, wouldn't cost you your job. Not even if you were an old lady.

Times have changed. Helen Thomas is out of work. She's an old lady. She bad-mouthed Israel and the Jews. She's out of work.

Good thing we've got a "free" press here.

And check the long thread at Daily Kos, "Helen Thomas To Retire Immediately (Updated)." Most of the comments there defend her.

Meanwhile, Markos Moulitsas' refusal to remove this post is tantamount to an endorsement by Daily Kos, "Eulogy before the Inevitability of Self-Destruction: The Decline and Death of Israel."

RELATED: From Joseph Fein, "What do Fareed Zakharia, Andrew Sullivan and Helen Thomas have in Common?"

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UPDATE: Kim Preistap links, "Breaking: Helen Thomas retires, effective immediately."

Gaza Organizer Bülent Yildirim at Hamas Rally: 'Everything in the World ... Is Progressing Towards Islam'

Chilling.

Via Gateway Pundit, "Gaza Flotilla Organizer at Hamas Rally: “Anyone Who Does Not Stand With Palestine Will Be Toppled… World Is Progressing to Islam” (Video)":

And at MEMRI, "'Freedom Flotilla' Organizer Bülent Yıldırım at Hamas Rally in Gaza: 'Anyone Who Does Not Stand Alongside Palestine... Will Be Toppled'; 'Everything in the World... Is Progressing Towards Islam'; 'What Can The Enemy Do To Me?... If They Kill Me – That Is Martyrdom for the Sake of Allah... The Entire World Must Know That If They Do Not Lift the Embargo from Gaza, All the Muslims in the World Will March to Gaza'."

Background at Wall Street Journal, "Turkish Charity Group Sounds Defiant Note."

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RELATED: Lots more reporting at Blazing Cat Fur. See, "Douchebags on Parade ...", and "How to Deal With Moonbat Protests."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Almost) Shouted Down at Progressive Policy Conference

Seriously. She had to shout above the hecklers. And notice how it's Code Pink protesting in the top video. See, "Far Left Anti-Israel Protesters Heckle Pelosi at ‘America’s Future Now’ Conference." Funny though, it's the healthcare activists who're even more obnoxious. Too bad Pelosi's got a safe seat. Wouldn't you just love a Tom Foley moment this November? Added Bonus: Politico barely mentions the protest in a footnote, and Firedoglake defends the hag, saying "Pelosi delivered a pretty decent performance above the din, hopefully she heard the concerns, too." (More here, via Memeorandum.)

Joran van der Sloot Confesses

At Fox News, "Van der Sloot Confesses to Killing in Peru" (via Memeorandum).

He broke her neck because she "intruded" into his private life? I'd like to break his neck:

Van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, then 18, on the Caribbean resort island of Aruba while she was celebrating her high school graduation.

He was arrested twice in the case -- and gave a number of conflicting confessions, some in TV interviews -- but was freed for lack of evidence.

A fixture on true crime shows and in tabloids after Holloway's disappearance, he gained a reputation for lying -- even admitting a penchant for it -- and also exhibited a volatile temper. In one Dutch television interview he threw a glass of wine in a reporter's eyes. In another, he smashed a glass of water against a wall in a fury.

'Southern Exposure'

An interview with filmmakers Stan Wald and Jerry Misner at Fox News. And the trailer from their documentary, "Southern Exposure," at bottom:

RELATED: La Shawn Barber, "Obama Asks Supreme Court to Overturn Napolitano-Endorsed Immigration Law" (via Memeorandum). And at Rasmussen, "70% Support Crackdown On Those Who Hire Illegal Immigrants."

WikiLeaks Champions Busted Army Specialist Brad Manning as 'National Hero'

The main story is at Threat Level, "U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe," and LiveShots, "Soldier Busted for Leaking to WikiLeaks."

But checking WikiLeaks on Twitter, Julian Assange proves his outfit's a criminal enterprise:

More at Robert Mackey, "U.S. Soldier Arrested in WikiLeaks Inquiry After Tip From Former Hacker."

Plus, Gateway Pundit, "Disgruntled Army Specialist Arrested for Leaking Thousands of Classified Records," Jules Crittenden, "Leak Bust," and Jawa Report, "U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested In WikiLeaks Video Probe (Bumped - Updated: WikiLeaks: If True Manning Is A National Hero)."

Helen Thomas Announces Retirement

TigerHawk compares Helen Thomas to Al Campanis, suggesting the former's comments were even more odious. But like Campanis after Ted Koppel's interview, she's on the way out now, "Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas retires following controversial remarks."

Check also Ed Morrissey, "White House blasts absent Thomas in today's briefing‎."

Ed's got some of the reactions, so we'll see how folks spin this ...

Added: A big thread's building at Memeorandum. See also The Hill.

BORDERS NOT BOARDERS!!!

Hey, I missed this one!

More Phoenix Rising pics at Moonbattery.