Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Newt:

He does a great job describing some of the Democrats who have some common sense and being pro-energy while describing Pelosi as the measly little shrew she is.

The leadership, the speaker, the Senate majority leader, contemporarily avoid facing reality. It may be that speaker Pelosi believes that going on a book tour and selling her book is a better idea then solving America’s energy problem.

But it still doesn’t make amends for this embarrassing Newt moment.

also:

MSM To Be Forced To Report The News?

Well the official media blackout of the Edwards scandal may be coming to an end thanks in large part to the Democrat leadership who have to decide whether he will speak at the convention:

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former Sen. John Edwards has a deadline to save his spot on the national stage.

With two weeks to go before their national convention, a number of Democrats are saying that Edwards needs to publicly address National Enquirer stories that have alleged he had an affair with a campaign worker and fathered her baby.

If Edwards fails to clear up the story in short order, he risks party officials deciding not to have him speak or, if they do, creating a distraction from a week focused on Barack Obama accepting the nomination.

“If there is not an explanation that’s satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is ‘no,’ he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention,” said Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chair.

Democrats gather in Denver on Aug. 25 and Edwards, as the 2004 vice presidential nominee and a presidential candidate who won delegates this year, ordinarily would be locked in as a speaker.

No way, no how, can the MSM ignore this story if he is ousted from his speaker role at the convention. They can spin it anyone they want, but the simple fact that the story is so controversial that it prevents him from speaking should wake the MSM up from their slumber. A slumber that usually only occurs when a big D is beside the perpetrator.

I love these two paragraphs in the story tho. (more…)

Crossposted from Red Maryland

From the Maryland Conservatarian -

July 28, 2008: McCain: Offshore Drilling is ‘Something We Have to Do’

August 2, 2008: Obama would consider off-shore drilling as part of comprehensive energy plan

August 3, 2008: The International Herald Tribune (a NY Times paper) spin on this: McCain joins Obama on offshore drilling

This just shows how the MSM has given up all pretense of objectivity. They are officially disciples in the cult of Obama.

also:

Rules Are Rules….Unless You Don’t Want To Follow Them

So, a while ago I posted the campaign finance reports for the city of Annapolis that were due July 1st of this year. Silly bloggers like me over analyzed what the reports meant, and there was some interesting email chatter. Everyone who raised or spent money, or had balances in their campaign accounts, reported their dealings. Everyone except Ward 7 Alderman am Shropshire.

Rather than filing a report, Alderman Sam filed a letter explaining why he didn’t file a report. Apparently, his house was flooded on May 13th, preventing him from accessing records. In his letter, he advised that everything should be back to normal shortly, and that we could expect a report to be filed by the end of July. The other day, a friend of mine called to remind me about this. He said he talked to the city clerk, and that as of a couple of days ago, no report had been received from the Honorable Alderman.

A few questions come to mind: (more…)

by Regina Sztajer

Why was Obama praising the Berliners? It was the U.S. Airforce that saved them from freezing and starvation. The Berlin Airlift was one of the great humanitarian and military successes of American history.On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union intent on dominating Europe cut off access to West Berlin. Their intent was starving the German’s into submission to their rule. They had already occupied East Berlin and the blockade might insure all of Germany in their hands. The Allies were outnumbered since the war had ended 1945 and most officials considered the situation hopeless. President Harry Truman came to the rescue and American civilians combined with the military to join with a sense of morale force to save Berlin. A feat unprecedented at the time! Americans learned for the first time how to act like a world power. Coal for heat and food were flown into Berlin on large American military transport planes day after day putting the lives of military crews at risk because the Soviets could have retaliated sparking the possibility of a Cold War reaching dangerous proportions. Final Joseph Stalin gave in and the crisis was over.

In 1989, the Berlin wall was torn down and a year later Berlin was reunified as one city. I visited Berlin a number of years ago and discovered a city of extreme bitterness. The West Berliners hated the people from East Berlin because they were forced by the government to pay higher taxes to tide the East Berliner’s over until they were self- sustaining. The economy was not great and jobs were scarce. East Germany was in ruins and the West had to dig into their pockets to help pay to rebuild.

The rosy picture that Obama painted of the German’s does not exits and it was thanks to America they survived the blockade and not because of anything they did except be there to unload the supplies we paid for and delivered. Obama asked the Berliners for more NATO troops to cut our presence in Afghanistan. He visualized the German’s pitching in so we could save money for lower taxes for the American Middle Class. . Does he really think the German’s are going to help American’s with their taxes?

Dieter Niebel of the German Free Democrats told Bild am Sonntag that, “Under no circumstances will the German taxpayer pay with money and more troops for Afghanistan for tax cuts in the U.S. ( The Wall Street Journal 7/ 29/ 08.) German’s have no desire to make sacrifices while Americans gain an advantages from it. Europe has had a free ride with American military protection while enjoying their freedom to criticize the United States and our president. Obama’s trying to link Europe’s security commitment to tax cuts in the U.S. was a political mistake and it will make it more unlikely they will ever really help us. (more…)

ByDick Morris

That’s why the undecided vote right now is running at twice its 2004 percentage at this time in the race. That’s why older women are withholding their approval of Obama. McCain can and must use August to tilt these doubts into negatives.
(more…)

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Former UN ambassador John Bolton has written a scathing article that is a cold shower for people who prefer to ignore politics, history, and the world’s current course. It’s informative and worth reading, but doesn’t leave a lot of room for debate. That’s not Bolton’s fault though. It’s the fault of Iran, the UN, and the people who have destroyed international deterrence.

This weekend, yet another “deadline” passed for Iran to indicate it was seriously ready to discuss ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Like so many other deadlines during these five years of European-led negotiations, this one died quietly, with Brussels diplomats saying that no one seriously expected any real work on a Saturday.
The fact that the Europeans are right — this latest deadline is not fundamentally big news — is precisely the problem with their negotiations, and the Bush administration’s acquiescence in that effort.

Iran is pursuing two goals simultaneously, both of which it is comfortably close to achieving. The first — to possess all the capabilities necessary for a deliverable nuclear weapon — is now almost certainly impossible to stop diplomatically. Thus, Iran’s second objective becomes critical: to make the risks of a military strike against its program too high, and to make the likelihood of success in fracturing the program too low. Time favors Iran in achieving these goals. U.S. and European diplomats should consider this while waiting by the telephone for Iran to call.

How did it come to this?

link

also:

George Stephanopoulus Grills Pelosi on Oil Drilling

And Speaker Pelosi can’t respond better than stammer out the same worn out talking points that have led to Americans paying $4 a gallon for gas!

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: You’ve been getting a lot of heat for not allowing a straight up or down vote expanding drilling off the coasts of the United States. Why won’t you permit a straight up or down vote?
(more…)

Crossposted from Red Maryland

A very interesting story developing in the leftist blogosphere, as one Daily Kos member was banned for having the audacity to talk about John Edward’s marital infidelities:

About a week ago, I posted a piece on the Huffington Post called Say It Ain’t So, John. I didn’t think it would have much more impact than my usual posts…maybe a dozen comments or so, a couple of people linking to it. To my surprise, it became the most read blog the Huffington Post for a few days.

I cross posted on DailyKos, which is probably the best known and biggest progressive blog. I’ve been posting at Kos for a long time. As more news about Edwards has come out, I followed up with more posts which were also the subject of a large number of comments. All of them looked at the Edwards situation from my point of view; that is, a liberal who is concerned about the implications this story may have in November.

Now I’m banned. I can’t write about ANYTHING at Kos. Can’t comment, can’t post a non-Edwards piece. Nothing.

And I stand by my title - it’s largely John Edward’s fault that I’m banned. I’m now personally a small piece of fallout from the scandal. That’s because Edward’s defense is shoot the messenger, not answer the questions. The rabid response of the people on Kos is directly related to Edwards and his own response. That’s exactly why I’m saying this has the potential to hurt the Democratic brand.

So answer the effin’ questions already, John. For everyone’s sake.

I’m not sure if the DailyKos is going to take down my writing and make me a complete un-person there. Of course, real progressives are against censorship so Maryscott O’Connor’s blog MyLeftWing is my new community home. (Maryscott was the lead actress in my film Breathing Room about 13 years ago, by the way.)

We have talked a lot before both briangriffiths.com, RedMaryland, the Conservative Refuge, the Word on the Street, and other places about the inability of liberals to take criticism, their inability accept dissent, and their default position to crush, vilify, or flush down the memory hole anybody who disagrees with their one view of the world.
(more…)

By Brujo Blanco

It seems that at least one public university in California (go figure) has a problem with God being allowed in their presence. This was manifested in a federal court case which was heard on July 20, 2008. The long and short of this hearing is that the University of California would not allow a number of students to matriculate at the university because they had attended a Christian school. The university apparently did not like the idea that these schools were engaging in misconduct by teaching these students about God in school. I suppose it is based on the old myth regarding the separation of church and state. `There have been Christian schools in our country since the beginning of the country. In fact in early America many areas would have had no schools were it not for the churches. Now consider that the state’s position is in order for the students to have been allowed to enter the university they must have been taught from a secular point of view. The university actually put forth the idea that if the Christian Schools want their students to be able to attend the university they must not teach them from a Christian point of view.

Now this is the point I want to drop in your lap. This is an attempt by a state to tell a religious school not to teach about God.Another point to be put forth is that the university in question has never used this point of view when accepting credentials from religious institutions other than a Christian school. It was determined by the university accepted the following as appropriate works for admission: “Western Civilization: The Jewish Experience” and “Issues in African History” were accepted, but “Christianity’s Influence on American History” was rejected. “Feminine Roles in Literature,” “Gender, Sexuality, and Identity in Literature” and “Literature of Dissent” were accepted, but “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” was not. Most strikingly, “Intro to Buddhism,” “Introduction to Jewish Thought,” “Women’s Studies & Feminism” and “Raza Studies” were deemed acceptable electives, but “Special Providence: American Government” was unacceptable, both as a civics and elective course.This is the state of Christianity in the United States.

It is apparent that the left his going after the Sunday people big time. I understand that 90% of the pubic institutions of higher learning are run by liberals. This is part of the problem. It is apparent that the left wants to remove any indication of religion or God from public life and view. From my perspective if the left is successful at smoozing the courts and the system into placing restrictions on religion eventually government will not be able to acknowledge the existence of religion. If government cannot acknowledge the existence of religion government cannot protect what it cannot acknowledge.
(more…)

by Sarah Raymond, The Examiner

WASHINGTON -

Immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland announced Friday that it will accept a $1.5 million donation from Citgo Petroleum Corp., controlled by a Venezuelan government led by strongman Hugo Chavez.

“We are thrilled that we have corporate partners like Citgo that recognize that there is poverty in this country and human needs,” said Kim Propeack, director of political action at CASA.

Though private, CASA receives state and county funds for assisting low-income immigrants in Maryland. The group has come under fire for its policy of not checking immigration status when it helps clients find jobs.

“This is just incredible that they would even accept this gift from Venezuela,” said Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, an anti-illegal immigration group. “We call on Gov. O’Malley and also Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett to repudiate CASA.”

Originally, CASA intended to announce the donation at a news conference Monday with Citgo officials and the Venezuelan ambassador. The news conference has been indefinitely postponed due to scheduling conflicts, according to a CASA spokesman.

Maryland officials have refused to interact with Venezuela in the past. In October 2007, Montgomery County Council member Marc Elrich, D-at large, withdrew an invitation to the Venezuelan ambassador to visit Maryland and potentially fund local social programs, after Leggett frowned on the idea.

“Montgomery County can take care of its own problems. Thank you. No thank you,” Leggett stated at the time.

Leggett’s office does not object to CASA’s acceptance of the donation. “As a government, Montgomery County did not feel the need to receive anything from the government of Venezuela or make any efforts, but obviously private organizations can do what they want,” said Patrick Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman.

CASA’s constituents have benefited from Citgo donations in the past. Since 2006, the Citgo-Venezuela Heating Oil Program has provided discounted oil to 12,000 low-income families in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Citgo began the national program in 2005 when it donated heating oil to the Citizens Energy Corp., whose chairman is former Massachusetts Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II. Media outlets and congressional representatives repudiated Kennedy, saying Chavez was using the program to highlight poverty in the U.S. while he ignored his own country’s struggles.
(more…)

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

I’m speechless:

A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year, The Times has learnt.

Four thousand British troops – including elements of the SAS and an entire mechanised brigade – watched from the sidelines for six days because of an “accommodation” with the Iranian-backed group, according to American and Iraqi officers who took part in the assault.

US Marines and soldiers had to be rushed in to fill the void, fighting bitter street battles and facing mortar fire, rockets and roadside bombs with their Iraqi counterparts.

Hundreds of militiamen were killed or arrested in the fighting. About 60 Iraqis were killed or injured. One US Marine died and sevenwere wounded.

US advisers who accompanied the Iraqi forces into the fight were shocked to learn of the accommodation made last summer by British Intelligence and elements of al-Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia Muslim cleric.

I guess Neville Chamberlain lives.

Oh, but it gets better:

The British were partly handicapped because their commander, Major-General Barney White-Spunner, was away on a skiing holiday when the attack began.

The British people should be dismayed and appalled that their leaders abandoned their allies and sided with their most dangerous enemy. It’s just mind boggling. In no way do I blame the British troops. They have acted with courage when called upon….but someone high up in the chain of command should be hung for this.

Some in the British government obviously understand that this is bad….real bad, for Britain:

A senior British defence source agreed that the battle for Basra had been damaging to Britain’s reputation in Iraq. “Maliki, and the Americans, felt the British were morally impugned by the deal they had reached with the militia. The British were accused of trying to find the line of least resistance in dealing with the Shia militia,” said the source.

“You can accuse the Americans of many things, such as hamfistedness, but you can’t accuse them of not addressing a situation when it arises. While we had a strategy of evasion, the Americans just went in and addressed the problem.”

Your damn right thats how we do it. Always have and always will.

Well, unless Obama gets into office. Then we will be loved by Europe and we too can have a strategy of evasion.

also:

U.S. official: Iraqis told me WMDs sent to Syria

I am NOT at all a fan of World Net Daily, but I can vouch for Ryan Mauro’s piece for several reasons. It corroborates earlier articles from other sources. It corroborates my own research. It revolves around a man of honor-not some political partisan hack or the Maple Syrup King of Vermont/Dr/Gov/Middle East expert and DNC chairman. Lastly, because Ryan is not WND, RNC, or DNC, but because he’s Ryan.

Many people like to stick to the partisan talking point that there was “NO WMD” or “No stockpiles” found in Iraq. This is inaccurate, misleading, and based on politicization of wartime facts. The ISG report found that Iraq was indeed a WMD threat (just as the UN had claimed only 2wks before the invasion), but not in the form of stockpiles. The ISG report even included pictures proving this, but people who believe anything the DNC says, and nothing the Bush Admin says don’t even look at the pictures. They just take other people’s opinions which they find palatable, and parrot them.

A former American overseer of Iraqi prisons says several dozen inmates who were members of Saddam Hussein’s military and intelligence forces boasted of helping transport weapons of mass destruction to Syria and Lebanon in the three months prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Don Bordenkircher – who served two years as national director of prison and jail operations in Iraq– told WND that about 40 prisoners he spoke with “boasted of being involved in the transport of WMD warheads to Syria.”
A smaller number of prisoners, he said, claimed “they knew the locations of the missile hulls buried in Iraq.”

In early 2006, Saddam’s No. 2 Air Force officer, Georges Sada, told the New York Sun Iraq’s WMDs were moved into Syria six weeks before the war started.

note: Sada was given several awards before the war for his pre-invasion efforts at preventing an invasion and his direct support of the peace movement.

Four of the prisoners – civilians attached to the Iraqi military – said they worked at the al-Muthana Chemical Industries site. They said the cargo included nitrogen mustard gas warheads for Tariq I and II missiles.

This would be the ultra-secure military base where WMD had been found several times before, and where the ISG found thousands of empty chemical artillery shells next to drums of “concentrated pesticide” as well as dual-use perfume atomizers bought in the west after 2002 that were being prepared for use in dispersing chemical weapons

Of course, the Iraqis got around shutting down the complex during the late 1990’s by bribing the French and other UNSC members to reclassifiy certain things as “dual-use”, and so it came to pass that the al Muthanna chemical weapons complex became the al Muthanna chemical weapons and the most heavily guarded shampoo complex in the history of mankind

The prisoners were members of the Iraqi military or civilians assigned to the Iraqi military, often stationed at munitions facilities, according to Bordenkircher. He said he was told the WMDs were shipped by truck into Syria, and some ended up in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

pre-war satellite images confirm this, and despite those images being shown in the ISG report…the politicized mantra from the Democratic Party (members of which actually, openly admit to misleading people on the war recently) is still believed. (more…)

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Now that the Google interregnum is over:

Adam Pagnucco is responding to an argument I never made. He cherry picks my post completely mischaracterizing what I argued. (I expect a 10% bump in MPW traffic from the link).

I used the AFSC’s shady history as one example as to WHY the MSP initiated the investigation. My exact words were that the AFSC’s past “could well have been a factor in MSP’s decision to initiate an investigation.”

This is, of course, is NOT “justifying” the operation.

I talked about the historical context to all of this here. Intelligence agencies have long memories and stubborn institutional cultures that inform their operational decisions. In that history, here in Maryland, you have the FBI and the Ober Commission’s assault against the CPUSA, which as we now know from Venona and the opening of Soviet archives, was justified. My argument is that the contemporary groups targeted by MSP are the ideological descendants of the CPUSA, so given that institutional culture and memory I can understand why they were targeted.

Pagnucco also elides a huge distinction in my argument. I wrote, “However, it is pretty clear that the groups and individuals under surveillance were not a threat…In the intelligence field, a lot of decisions come down to judgment calls. In retrospect, the MSP should have ended the surveillance much earlier than it did. Quite clearly, continuing the operation was a bad call.”

Furthermore, I also suggested, “a special legislative oversight committee similar to congressional oversight committees would be good start to ensure that the MSP is following both federal and state guidelines.” Quite clearly, I disagree with Governor Ehrlich on this point.

Perhaps having my views accurately reflected is asking too much.
(more…)

by Regina Sztajer

Should the United States be concerned with Iran’ nuclear capabilities? Or is only a worry for Israel? Having been to Israel six times in the past I can’t imagine it destroyed by an Atomic bomb. This is a beautiful country rich in Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage. As an historian and having studied the development of the Atomic bomb and it’s being used against Japan to end WWII, I can’t even fathom the consequence of a bomb killing indiscriminately and leaving Israel in radioactive ashes. For what reason HATE!!!! alone! Is that a reason to destroy the life and a nation and its people?

Jerusalem the golden, because of the many gold domes on it’s houses of worship, is both an ancient and modern city. A jewel for centuries that can be destroyed by an Iranian Shahab-3 missile carrying an nuclear warhead raining death and destruction on the innocents is unthinkable. The real possibility is why the Israeli military knows they have no choice but to plan for a preemptive strike to defend itself. In order to protect its right to exist Israel must plan to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran if the world fails to take a stand and impose very tough sanctions.

Five years have past with the European Union trying to negotiate a solution with Iran over its nuclear program and they have refused to cooperate continuing to enrich uranium in defiance. Generous offers of incentives to Iran were turned down and each day passes with it becoming obvious Iran’s real intentions are to develop nuclear weapons. They have sought the destruction of Israel and the world ignores their threats. These are not idle threats of their current president Mahoud Ahmadinejad because the destruction of Israel has long been the pillar of Iran’s foreign policy. In a sermon on December 15, 2000, Ali Khamenei Iran’s supreme leader at the time said on television, “Iran’s position, which was first expressed by the Imam Khomeini and stated several times by those responsible, is that the cancerous tumor called Israel must be uprooted from the region.” ( www.realclearpolitics..com, 8/4/08 Bob Feferman.)

Ahmadinejad has taken this type of madness to a new level with calling to “wipe Israel off the map” and a government sponsored conference titled “A World Without Zionism” (October, 2005.) He has recently called Israel ” a stinking corpse” on its 60th birthday. Israel can’t ignore Iran because it usually carry’s out it’s threats. Iran’s proxy Hezbollah fired 4,000 rockets into the cities of northern Israel in the summer of 2006. The rockets were supplied by Iran sending a clear message that they intended to destroy Israel. The Israeli Air Force recently held a massive air exercise over the Mediterranean Sea with 100 warplanes sending a clear message, if the international community doesn’t deal with Iran then Israel will do it alone! Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the international community has ignored Iran’s threats to destroy Israel and sponsorship of terrorism. Profits from Iranian oil and natural gas has blinded the world’s immorality of doing business with Iran. Only the United States has refused to do business as usual with Iran.
(more…)

Anti-abortion protesters arrested
By Josh Mitchell

Eighteen anti-abortion protesters were arrested yesterday after they marched among cars stopped at red lights in Harford County and refused to disperse, state police said.

Motorists called police about 4:30 p.m. to report that 30 to 50 people holding large signs and pictures were walking in traffic at an intersection on Route 24 just north of Interstate 95. Two troopers responding to the calls asked the protesters to disperse after they could not produce a permit to demonstrate, state police spokesman Greg Shipley said.

An hour later, 20 members of the same group marched again at the intersection, Shipley said.

Sixteen adults and two juveniles were arrested. Shipley said they were charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a lawful order and willfully obstructing the flow of traffic.

Dear Editor,

Referencing the below article, there are at least three major errors. I was there for the entire time and captured much of the event on my digital camera.

1. The people who were arrested were not marching among cars stopped at red lights; they were standing in the grass on the side of the road, each holding a pro-life sign and quietly praying.

2. We did not refuse to disperse; we took the signs down at 5:00pm.

3. We did not return to the same intersection; we moved to another location and set the signs up again.

4. At that location, a state trooper arrived and began arresting people without telling them why.

My concern is that your newspaper should be gravely concerned with this deliberate attack by the State, the trampling of MD citizens’ First Amendment rights. I would encourage you to dig deeper into this story and report it for what it really is:

+ Why is it against the law to stand on the side of the road with a sign and pray?
+ Why can MD State Troopers arrest 18 peacefully assembled people without telling them why and without reading them their rights?
+ Why can they hold them for up to 48 hours without charging them with anything?
+ By what authority can a police officer order people to leave a Maryland county without citing an offense? Is this the United States of America or the Soviet States of America?

(more…)

Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Obama released the following yesterday:

Obama’s campaign released a letter this afternoon from campaign manager David Plouffe to the Commission on Presidential Debates only agreeing to the traditional three sanctioned fall debates and single vice presidential forum.

“Due to the late date of the two parties’ nominating conventions, and the relatively short period between the end of the conventions and the first proposed debate, it is likely that the four commission debates will be the sole series of debates in the fall campaign,” Plouffe writes.

Not said is whether Obama is any longer considering meeting McCain for any town hall meetings outside the Commission’s debates. After initial indications in June that some would take place, it appears increasingly unlikely that the two candidates will meet on stage before the first debate at Ole Miss in September. McCain wanted to do one per week; Obama’s campaign responded by proposing one town hall on July Fourth and a Lincoln-Douglas-style appearance in August. McCain’s campaign rejected this counter-offer and discussions have since ceased as the campaign has increasingly turned negative.

So the challenge from McCain for 10 town hall debates has officially been dismissed by the Obama campaign. What a coward. But we’ve all seen how the guy does without a teleprompter, his staff most certainly has, and they did the smartest thing. While running from these debates is cowardly, it is smart. He would be demolished.

McCain responds:

“We understand it might be beneath a worldwide celebrity of Barack Obama’s magnitude to appear at town hall meetings alongside John McCain and directly answer questions from the American people, but we hope he’ll reconsider.”

Ouch.

The left made much of Bush’s ability to speak well but when it comes to the messiah….it just doesn’t matter anymore. Funny how that happens eh?

And what will hurt even more is the fact that McCain will continue to appear at town hall meetings to answer questions off the cuff while Obama jets around like the rock star he believes he is to get his photo taken as he reads from speeches written for him.

also:

Pelosi shuts down lights/microphones to stop vote on oil drilling
GOP stays on floor in loud protest

CSPAN Video: John Culbertson on GOP House protest

Latest video after the uproar from the gallery from CSPAN above.

For the lead up to this moment in time, see Curt’s post, Shocking “Do Nothing” Congress

And for the print version of the “power outage” story, see Wordsmith’s Political theater I can believe in.

More groundwork from the path leading to today’s uproar… from yesterday’s Union Leader op-ed page:

Outrageously and indefensibly, the Democratic majority in Congress callously plays politics while the people burn their paychecks on $4-a-gallon gasoline.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are desperate to avoid a vote on oil drilling before the November elections. They know they will lose such a vote, and they fear Republicans will get credit for taking action to lower oil and gas prices.

So to prevent that electoral nightmare, they simply refuse to allow a floor vote on offshore drilling, which is now supported by more than two-thirds of the American people. Instead, they propose tighter regulations on commodities speculators. In both the Senate and the House, Democratic leaders called for votes this week and last on bills to further regulate oil speculators. They did so after the Commodities Futures Trading Commission issued a report concluding that speculators were not driving up the price of oil and gas.

Yesterday, the House voted to adjourn for its August recess and leave the oil issue unresolved. The vote was 213-212.

Both of New Hamsphire’s representatives, Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, had the power to keep the House in session until oil and gas prices were addressed. They chose to go home without holding a vote on the most pressing economic problem in recent memory. They will be home for the next five weeks. You might take this opportunity to tell them what you think about their decision to head off for vacation while the average price of gas in New Hampshire sits at $3.90 a gallon.

Finally:

Global Warming Wrapup - Gore Favoritism, Whats Behind The Activist Mind, The Politics Of Climate Change, The “Settled” Science Of Climate Change, The “Unsettled” Science, & Global Warming Policies That Will Rob From The Poor to Give To The Rich

First up! Mr. Al Gore:

The head of a group founded by Al Gore told lawmakers on Thursday that the former vice president’s goal of generating all U.S. electricity from clean, renewable sources within 10 years is ambitious but attainable.

Cathy Zoi, CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection, told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that there were no technological or other obstacles in the way of clean power.

Now that is news. The head of a group founded by Gore endorses Gore’s idea. Just shocking!
(more…)

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Man, Martin O’Malley has really jumped off of the deep end:

During his third visit to the capital in little more than a week, Gov. Martin O’Malley suggested that his administration’s 2008 budget fix - including tax increases that required a special session of the General Assembly - is a national model for what he called the “American value of fiscal responsibility….” …”We were asking our neighbors to sacrifice more at a time when they were already getting hammered and the dollar was already being weakened,” O’Malley said. “None of these decisions were made lightly.” But he added: “I believe that the people that we serve actually have a far greater capacity to embrace, understand and make investments than sometimes we give them credit for.”

I have no idea what planet O’Malley is living on right now. I really don’t.

Part of the reason that we are “getting hammered”, Governor, is because of your fiscal imprudence and lack of leadership. It is you Governor, who are ultimately responsible for our pocketbook walls. It is YOU Governor whose lack of leadership has brought our state and our families alike to the precipice of economic disaster.

For Governor O’Malley to call his spend, tax, spend some more policy as “a model of responsibility” makes me question the Governor’s fitness for office. Clearly, Governor O’Malley doesn’t give a damn about the people of Maryland to make such a ridiculous claim.
(more…)

by Haider Ajina

The following is good news from Iraq .

From Iraq ’s Azzaman, August 3, 2008

$300 million loan to revamp Iraqi agricultural industries

International donors have agreed to lend Iraq $300 million on condition that the money is spent on developing the country’s agricultural industries, Baghdad Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. The chamber said the donors have entrusted United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) whose experts will oversee the rehabilitation of the sector. The interest-free loan has a 20-year service period and is expected to modernize the country’s agricultural industry. Iraq used to have one of the world’s most developed date processing industries but the factories involved in date processing have aged and some of them are idle. Iraq still has the largest number of date palm trees in the world but experts say date yields have receded and the country no longer tops the list of world producers.

The statement said new machinery is to be purchased and there will be new factories in some provinces. Other agriculture-based industries to benefit from the loan include leather, dairy and vegetable ghee. The statement said the loan is expected to revitalize the agricultural sector and even lead to a surplus in processed food.

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ByDick Morris

The difficulty Obama has had in mounting a sustainable lead illustrates the depth of the sales resistance to him among average American voters. His ongoing inability to win the votes of women over 50, in particular, it is interesting and shows that their fear of the “other” is quite pronounced. If McCain were to run a series of ads for weeks on end about Obama’s flip flops, he might make it permanently impossible for the Democrat to mount a lead.
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Crossposted from Flopping Aces

Arrogant AND out of touch!

This may remind some of the energy crisis we encountered during Jimmy Carter’s Administration. His solution? Put on a sweater and turn down the thermostat in winter.

Also:

Obama and McCain Selling Same Iraq Strategy: Anti-War Left Continues Silence

The Iraq Equation

Over the last few weeks, Barack Obama and John McCain have seemed to get perilously close to agreeing on what to do in Iraq. Obama continues to talk about a 16-month withdrawal but would let military commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal. McCain is also now in favor of a 16-month timeline—as long as the commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal.

Reuters: “Obama says conditions to dictate final Iraq force”

Gosh that sounds familiar

Meanwhile….the opposition to the war in Iraq (soon to be…perhaps…President Obama’s War) is as quiet as the wind

Is Barack Obama a neoconservative bent on controlling Iraqi oil, or could it be that Operation Iraqi Freedom continues not for oil primarily, but for….um…Iraqi Freedom?

UN RESOLUTION 1483. May 2003
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. Appeals to Member States and concerned organizations to assist the people of Iraq in their efforts to reform their institutions and rebuild their country, and to contribute to conditio ns of stability and security in Iraq in accordance with this resolution;

2. Calls upon all Member States in a position to do so to respond immediately to the humanitarian appeals of the United Nations and other international organizations for Iraq and to help meet the humanitarian and other needs of the Iraqi people by providing food, medical supplies, and resources necessary for reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq’s economic infrastructure;

3. Appeals to Member States to deny safe haven to those me mbers of the previous Iraqi regime who are alleged to be responsible for crimes and atrocities and to support actions to bring them to justice;

4. Calls upon the Authority, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant international law, to promote the welfare of the Iraqi people through the effective administration of the territory, including in particular working towards the restoration of conditions of security and stability and the creation of conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future; [emphasis added-sm]

Crossposted from Red Maryland

Governor O’Malley is convening a panel, headed by former Attorney General Stephen Sachs, to review the Maryland State Police surveillance of anti-war and anti-death penalty groups in 2005-2006.

I think we can all agree that this is a good thing. However, something else in the Examiner story jumped off the page at me.

O’Malley also said no information from surveillance was shared with him when he was mayor of Baltimore, even though Baltimore police were regularly made aware of public demonstrations.

Ok, I can buy that, as executives do not involve themselves in the operations of their police intelligence agencies. However, O’Malley goes further:

“But the insinuation that somehow the city police were involved in this in an undercover capacity, there’s no evidence of that,” O’Malley said.

Sorry Governor, the evidence proves you wrong on that point. Perhaps you need to have Rick Abbruzzese go back and read the December 21, 2005 report, which clearly states:

On December 3, 2005 [redacted] also attended an anti-death penalty protest outside Supermax Prison in Baltimore City. [Redacted] attended in a covert capacity and were covered by two covert officers from Baltimore City Police’s Intelligence Division.

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by Dr. Frederick Meekins

As a discipline, archaeology examines the artistic and technological remains of various cultures in the attempt to learn more about them. Often from these objects, students learn about more than the subject’s material nature but also insight into the beliefs and paradigms important to the human species at a particular time.

Probably the most prominent representative of the discipline in public culture is none other than Indiana Jones, with Stargate’s Dr. Daniel Jackson coming in at second. As a narrative itself created at a particular point in time, the Indiana Jones movies themselves can be placed under investigation to unearth what our own culture has believed at various points in recent history as well as the ideas shaping those having such influence over our own society.

Through comparing ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ and the other films of the Indiana Jones saga, especially with ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade’, one can detect the shifts taking place all around us as to what the broader and popular culture perceives as foundational truth. For example, though the films should not be seen as a systematic theology upon which to base one’s faith, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Last Crusade’ had at their base Judeo-Christian assumption in that artifacts connected with this tradition, namely the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail (the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper) were actual historic objects and, since these objects in legend exude a power that cannot be explained by conventional science, one assumes they are connected to the divine.

In the latest film of the series, ‘Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull’, ultimate wisdom and power is not seen as originating in a traditional conception of God as in ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’ or ‘Last Crusade’ or even in spirits as in ‘Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom’. Rather in the latest installment, the source of enlightenment happens to be those entities with the bulbous heads and lanky limbs we have come to know as extraterrestrials whose crystalline skulls in this story can serve as powerful tools through which to augur the future, communicate with these beings, and to gain control of the world. Though an entertaining story, it may have considerable basis in reality — or at least in the worldviews of its high level producers.

For example, the opening scene with Indy trouncing through the military hanger is set in none other than Area 51 and the top secret project he alludes to working on 10 years prior to the events of the story is none other than the Roswell crash. Some might flippantly dismiss these as urban legends that have taken on lives of their own beyond the significance of any incidents that may have occurred in these locations that now fire the imagination. However, it is pretty hard to ignore the Nazca lines which were not discovered by modern man until the discovery of flight and the existence of a tribe of Indians that mutilated the shape of their skulls to make themselves appear as if they were from beyond this earth.
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ByDick Morris

In fact, the gap between male and female voting preference in this election is far lower than it normally is. Among people under 40, men back Obama by eight points and women support him by 13. Among those in their 40s, men back McCain by 11 points and women support him by four. And for those over 50, men vote for the Republican by a nine-point margin while women prefer him by three points.
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