The Hard-Left 'Took Over' the Democrat Party

And this guy, Doug Sosnik, is just now noticing?

At Politico, "Blue Crush: How the Left Took Over the Democratic Party."

A good piece, especially Sosnik's commentary on the public's growing preference for smaller government, which contradicts the natural ideological program of the Democrat big-government socialists hacks.

FLASHBACK: From March 2013, "Barack Obama, the Democrats, and the Mainstreaming of Socialism."

Putin's Crime, Europe's Cowardice

From Bernard-Henri Lévy, at the New York Times:

To see the European Union acting so pusillanimously is very discouraging. France wants to hold on to its arms contracts for the jobs they are supposed to save in its naval shipyards. Germany, a hub of operations for the Russian energy giant Gazprom, is petrified of losing its own strategic position. Britain, for its part, despite recent statements by Prime Minister David Cameron, may still not be ready to forgo the colossal flows of Russian oligarchs’ ill-gotten cash upon which the City, London’s financial district, has come to rely.

In European parlance, this is called the spirit of Munich — appeasement. And it is a disgrace.

Odds of a GOP Wave

Following up from yesterday, "Larry Sabato: GOP Has 'No Lock' on Senate Majority in November."

This piece, from Josh Kraushaar, at National Journal, is much more in line with my thinking, especially on the polling. See, "The Odds of a GOP Wave Are Increasing":

If anything, this year's environment for Democrats is shaping up to be as bleak. Sizable majorities oppose the Obama administration's handling of nearly every issue, including the economy, health care, and foreign policy. The administration looks out of its element, lurching from foreign policy crises to domestic scandal over the past year. Even out of the headlines, Obamacare is still a driving force for Republicans and for unfavorable poll numbers. This week, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg released new data showing Obama's disapproval at a whopping 60 percent in 12 Senate battlegrounds, with half strongly disapproving of his performance. Overall, Republicans held a 2-point edge on the battleground generic ballot, 46 percent to 44 percent.

Those are the numbers that foreshadow wave elections. In the House, the outlook is already decidedly favorable toward Republicans, even with a limited pool of competitive seats. The Cook Political Report only ranks four GOP-held seats as toss-ups or worse, while 13 Democratic seats are in the same category. Perennial targets, like suburban Reps. Joe Heck and Mike Fitzpatrick, are looking in strong shape, while Democrats in friendly seats like Reps. Brad Schneider and Scott Peters are facing challenging campaigns. In Senate races, where voters pay closer attention to individual candidates, Democrats are working aggressively to disqualify challengers from capitalizing on the public discontent, hoping that widespread dissatisfaction with the GOP brand will translate into support for their incumbents.

But in an environment like this, it's more likely we'll see more races come into play late than to see close contests fall by the wayside. Republicans aren't guaranteed a wave election at this point, but those dismissing the possibility are whistling past the graveyard.

Obama on 'Acting White'

The Wall Street Journal praises President Obamam's "My Brothers Keepers" initiative. See, "Some honest remarks about culture and authenticity" (via Google):

...Mr. Obama had some pointed but honest remarks at a town hall in Washington, D.C. on Monday: "Sometimes African Americans, in communities where I've worked, there's been the notion of 'acting white'—which sometimes is overstated, but there's an element of truth to it, where, okay, if boys are reading too much, then, well, why are you doing that? Or why are you speaking so properly? And the notion that there's some authentic way of being black, that if you're going to be black you have to act a certain way and wear a certain kind of clothes, that has to go. Because there are a whole bunch of different ways for African American men to be authentic."

Mr. Obama added that young men should know their specific cultural heritage while also appreciating our common culture in which everyone must be equipped to participate and strive to succeed. This is a message that Mr. Obama can deliver with particular authority, and good for him for doing so.

NewsBusted — Majority of Americans Want Newly Arrived Illegal Aliens to Be Sent Home Immediately...

NewsBusted 7/25/14, with Jodi Miller:

VIDEO: No 'Photo Op' Obama Goes for Fist Bumps, Selfies, and Trash Talk at Canter's Deli in L.A.

Remember how O was totally dissin' illegal alien photo ops at at the Texas border as not serious, or something? Well, get the man out to a Los Angeles delicatessen and now we're talkin' serious business.

At the Los Angeles Times, "President Obama in L.A.: Fundraiser, fist bumps, trash talk in a deli":

On Thursday that locale was Canter’s Deli, the venerable Fairfax district eating spot, where Obama struck up conversations with diners about basketball, his failing jump shot and other regular-guy concerns.

Fresh from a morning fundraiser at the Pacific Palisades home of Live Nation Chief Executive and President Michael Rapino — the bookend to a Wednesday night fundraiser at the Hancock Park home of television impresario Shonda Rhimes — Obama strode into the deli and shook hands with line cooks, who snapped pictures and fist-bumped the president.

Then he moved to the dining room, where he engaged in a little reverse trash talk, impugning his own basketball skills...

President Obama greets an enthusiastic customer at Canter's delicatessen in LA today pic.twitter.com/OWlQTw1Js6

— petesouza (@petesouza) July 25, 2014

'I will not apologise for surviving...'

From Eitan Chitayat, at the Times of Israel, "Shalom, motherf****r":

I’m tired of the argument lobbed against us where I read people saying it’s ‘not fair’ because more Palestinians have died than Israelis. Of people asking ‘why are we complaining when we’re the stronger ones?’ My heart bleeds for every innocent killed no matter what side they’re on. Palestinain or Israeli innocents – it matters not.

But I will not apologise for surviving.

For surviving missiles intended to kill me. The fact they didn’t kill me doesn’t mean they weren’t sent with the intention to murder. We have a defence system, shelters, evacuation procedures and governments who take care of us – I will not apologise for living and surviving thanks to being prepared because we have a culture that celebrates our lives and cherishes them instead of sending 10-year old children to be fighters and bombers. I will not apologise for having a business, a home, a family and friends here who want normal lives and to live in peace with our neighbors. I will not apologise for existing and I want nothing more than to co-exist quietly with neighbors who accept me here.

But this is not what Hamas wants.

Let me be very clear. Hamas is trying to kill ME. My family. My baby son. All of us here. That is their purpose. Get it through your heads – that is what is happening. And it’s VERY personal. For all of us here....

If anyone doesn’t understand any of the above; if anyone doesn’t get it; if any of my friends are going to post anti-Israel messages in a time where over 500 Palestinians have tragically died in this current conflict yet you remained silent while almost 200,000 Arabs were murdered by Arabs these past few years; if you’re not writing about Assad using chemical weapons against his people; if you’re not writing about ISIS who crucified 8 christians the other day and who are telling Iraqi Christians ‘convert, pay tax, or die’; if you only have criticism for the State of Israel that is doing EVERYTHING in its power to avoid civilian losses to Palestinians during a war; if you’re going to do nothing but sit wherever you’re sitting and just dish out your anti-Israel dirt while rockets are being aimed at my house, family and friends as our boys are fighting to protect us – and you’re going to dish it out simply because we’re living in this land and you haven’t got a clue as to our connection to it; if you’re going to join the anti-semitic and anti-Israel demonstrations flaring up in the world like we’re seeing in France, Turkey, Berlin, most Arab states and even in the US that have nothing to do with this conflict but are really just expressions of hatred directed at Jews and Israelis (and these expressions will be directed at the host countries soon); if you’re going to stay quiet and just accept, then go ahead and unfriend me from Facebook now because you’re probably no friend of mine...

California Attorney General Kamala Harris Will Help Illegals Get Lawyers for Deportation Hearings

At KCRA Sacramento, "AG Kamala Harris will help immigrants get lawyers":

Reports: California AG Kamala Harris to help secure lawyers for Obama's illegals at deportation hearings. #NoAmnesty pic.twitter.com/IYZ3Tt8nro

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 25, 2014

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California's attorney general said Thursday she is helping secure lawyers to represent minors from Central America during immigration hearings.

Kamala Harris called the surge in young immigrants a humanitarian crisis, echoing comments made a day earlier by Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat. More than 57,000 minors have arrived at the border since October, mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, along with tens of thousands of families.

Harris said she wants "to make sure that we're giving those children due process of law" and added that children as young as 8 shouldn't have to go through the hearings without the benefit of a lawyer to help explain their condition.

Harris made the comments after presenting valor awards to law enforcement officers at the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento.

She said providing lawyers is among the steps that can be taken at the state and local levels to aid the situation. "But ultimately, it's an issue that is a federal issue," said Harris, who is running for re-election to a second four-year term.

"We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and Congress is not acting. And it's a shame."

Yes, she's running for reelection, and pandering to the lawless open-borders Democrat Party vote.

More at the Imperial Valley News, "Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Bulletin to Law Enforcement on Federal Immigration Detainers."

Arizona 2-Hour Execution Rekindles Debate on Death Penalty

A federal judge argued this week to bring back the firing squad, and that's where the debate should be going --- toward functionally more humane executions.

And here's the Wall Street Journal, "Lengthy Arizona Execution Heightens Lethal-Injection Questions: Condemned Man Dies Two Hours After Drugs Were Administered."

And video at KNXV-TV ABC15 Phoenix , "Arizona inmate dies 2 hours after execution began," and "Reaction from latest Arizona execution."

Katrina vanden Heuvel Blames Ukraine for 'Kiev Atrocities' as Context for Downed Flight #MH17

Katrina vanden Heuval, at the interview below, cites her husband Stephen Cohen's piece at the Nation, from June 30th, "The Silence of American Hawks About Kiev’s Atrocities."

Folks might recall, back in March, Jamie Kirchick slammed Cohen for a pro-Russia piece at the Nation as "one of the most slavish defenses of Putinism."

The hard-leftists at the Nation have been Vladimir Putin's biggest boosters amid the heightening U.S.-Russia tensions over the last year, and Vanden Hueval comes within inches of blaming the Poroshenko government in Kiev (which has now stepped down amid calls for new elections) for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17:

The Nation published a story a few weeks ago called "The Silence of [American] Hawks [About] Kiev’s Atrocities," and we’re seeing in the downing of the plane—the tragedy of the downing of the plane occurred in the context of this virtually unreported civil war.

Indeed, at the introduction to communist Amy Goodman's interview, she airs the statement from a pro-Putin rebel, who claims that Ukraine "provoked the usage of the BUK missile system" and that "Ukraine did everything for the civilian plane to be shot down."

Vanden Hueval blames the United States for fomenting at "new Cold War, if not a hot war" by tethering itself to the "oligarchy" in Kiev.

This is extremely inflammatory, conspiratorial stuff --- hardline anti-American and provocative:



And note how Vanden Hueval lets Vladimir Putin off the hook, blaming the separatists and far-right "Rambos" in Russia for the escalation of violence in Ukraine, and that Putin has been trying to broker peace, that he was doing all "what he could to restrain the rebels."

The mind reels at this alternative reality. Vanden Hueval constantly alleges that all of this is "under-reported," which of course it would be, since these conspiracies exist only the minds of far-left extremists like Vanden Hueval and her alternative media enablers like communist Amy Goodman.

Vanden Hueval's WaPo column is here, "Downing of Flight 17 should trigger talks, not more violence."

Just wow.

Escalation! Massive #Russia Troop Buildup at Ukraine Border: Putin's Artillery Pounds Kiev Army (VIDEO)

Barbara Starr reports, for CNN:

All week long Russia has been firing artillery into #Ukraine from its side of the border #whatisPutinupto

— Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) July 24, 2014

Expect updates...

Mariana Braga for Alessandro Casagrande and Polanski Magazine

At In the Raw, "Mariana Braga | Polanski Vol. 3 by Alessandro Casagrande HQ Photo Shoot."

And check Polanski.

VIDEO: City of Bell Fast-Tracks Federally-Funded Shelter to House Obama's Illegal Aliens — #BorderInvasion

Scandal-plagued City of Bell is fast-tracking its plans to warehouse Obama's federally-funded criminal and diseased illegal aliens from Central America.

There was  rancorous debate at the City Hall last night, but the plan is approved.

At LAT, "Bell backs plan for immigration detainee shelter in city."

And watch, from CBS News Los Angeles:



PREVIOUSLY: "Scandal-Plagued City of Bell, California, Plans to House Diseased Central American Illegal Aliens."

Larry Sabato: GOP Has 'No Lock' on Senate Majority in November

I like Sabato, although I'm much more bullish than he is. I expect public opinion polls are a lagging indicator of the extreme discontent out there, and the Democrats are going to get hammered. And unlike Sabato, I don't discount foreign policy, since while polls show Americans oppose U.S. military intervention in current overseas crises, the public is very unhappy with President Obama's leadership. (Oh, and don't forget the illegal immigrant invasion, heh. Americans want a secure border and the Democrats just don't get it. They're gonna get slaughtered.)

Be that as it may, here's Sabato's Crystal Ball, "Senate: 2014 a Year All Its Own: Republicans’ takeover odds remain decent, but this isn’t 2006 or 2010."

'If you’re anti-Israel, then you’re anti-America...'

Listen, at Truth Revolt, "Howard Stern Gives Impassioned Defense of Israel":

If you’re anti-Israel, then you’re anti-America. It’s the only democracy over there, it’s the only friend we have who’s willing to fight and stand up for what’s right.

Nazi Jihad: Hitler's Long Shadow Over Israel

Here's a must-read post from Jeff Goldstein, at Protein Wisdom, "Hitler’s Long Shadow over Israel":

I’m getting beyond incensed over the rise of anti-Semitism both here and in westernized (socialist) Europe, and all the useful idiots who haven’t a fucking clue that they’re supposed “principled” stand against “Israeli racist apartheid butchers” is nothing more than a collaboration with none other than Hitler himself. It’s like his demons spirit has possessed them....

Never again means never again. You want to play radical chic? You’d best do it from behind the anonymity of your keyboard, then, you barbarian-stroking pussies. Because if I show up at a counterprotest in support of Israel and you lay your hands on me in some mob attempt to intimidate Jews, I guarantee at least one of you is going to pull back a fucking bloody stump.

RTWT.



PHOTO CREDIT: Haj Amin al-Husseini, via Wikimedia Commons.

Reports: Hamas Rockets Cited in Deadly Attack on U.N. Shelter in Beit Hanoun, Gaza

Here's the report on the Beit Hanoun shelling, at the New York Times, "Airstrike Hits School Sheltering Gaza Civilians." The Times claims it was an "apparent Israeli strike" that hit the compound, but there are conflicting reports.

UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness indicates that Hamas rockets were also falling in the same area as well:

Also being reported there were Hamas rockets falling in Beit Hanoun today RT

— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) July 24, 2014

And the IDF issued this statement, "IDF SMS regarding Beit Hanoun":

The IDF is currently in the midst of combat, with Hamas terrorists in the area of Beit Hanoun, who are using civilian infrastructure and international symbols as human shields. In the course of the afternoon, several rockets launched by Hamas from within the Gaza Strip landed in the Beit Hanoun area. The IDF is reviewing the incident.

Any war with Hamas and the anti-Israel left is a information war. The facts are unknown on the bombing at Beit Hanoun, but the media's rush to judgment always indicts the Israelis first.

Expect updates...

Israel Pounds Gaza — As Well It Should

I'm surprised this letter to the Los Angeles Times was even considered by the editors, much less published as the lead at that section.

See, "Who'll stop the killing in the Gaza Strip?":

To the editor: Although it is true that too many people are dying, your headline for the print version of this story ("'Too many innocent people are dying'") was unfair because it undercut what Israel has attempted to do: minimize Arab casualties while trying to defend the safety of its citizens. I know of no other country that is so moral that it calls civilians to warn them that the country is about to attack. ("Israel pounds Gaza neighborhood it says is rocket-launching site," July 20)

Yes, too many people are dying. The Israelis want no one to die; what they do want is the violence against their country stopped.

The Arabs argue about Israel not being moral enough. But where is the Arabs' moral ground? How is it that they don't complain when Hamas puts its weapons in tunnels under homes and schools, acting like they do not care if their people live or die?

If Hamas doesn't want people to die, it should agree to the proposed cease-fire, as Israel did. Thank you for every effort you make to be more fair.

Lisa Kassner, Northridge

Obama's Illegals Heading to Bourne, Massachusetts?

Well, not if local patriots can help it.

It's the Murrieta model, in the Bay State.

At the Boston Globe, "Officials in Bourne decry plan to bring migrant children."

Plus, "Voters split on sheltering migrant children in Mass. Globe poll finds divisions over plan by Patrick, other immigration issues":

Massachusetts voters are split on Governor Deval Patrick’s plan to provide temporary shelter for up to 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant children on a state air base or military training installation, according to a new Boston Globe poll.

Given the details of Patrick’s proposal, including the fact that the facilities would be staffed and paid for by the federal government and open for up to four months, 50 percent of those polled expressed support, with 43 percent opposed. That’s within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

But on national immigration initiatives, respondents were more skeptical. Asked more broadly whether the migrant children should be allowed to stay in the United States after judicial hearings, only 39 percent answered yes, compared with 43 percent who said the children should be deported.

Also at the Lowell Sun, "Debate over immigrant children coming to Massachusetts hits the House floor."

Eau So Sexy

From Theo Spark, "Victoria's Secret Introduces Eau So Sexy Places to Wear Fragrance."