Hot Air poll ... tough choices.

Hot Air has a poll up for voting on Obama's most embarrassing moment of the year.  It's quite a list of choices ...

Hot Air: Choose the Obamateurism of 2010

Obama, seemingly unfazed by these (and other) missteps, still saw fit to give himself a "A good solid B plus" for 2009, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.  Comically, the only reason he didn't give himself an 'A' grade was because his administration had "inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt".

Why there was (almost) a 'man-caused disaster' on Christmas Day

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is coming under fire for the failures that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to smuggle explosive material onto a Christmas Day flight.  Specifically, warnings from Abdulmutallab's father to the US some months earlier, that his son might be dangerous, were apparently ignored.

Unfortunately, the terrorist's father chose the ignominious career path of 'Nigerian Banker'.  Napolitano had simply fallen for that old Nigerian Banker email scam one too many times.  She had to draw the line somewhere. ;-)

Gore: 'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...'

Ooops.  

Hackers recently acquired and published over 100MB of e-mail correspondence from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia.   The CRU describes itself as being "widely recognized as one of the world's leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change".

The hacked emails span from 1996 to 2009 and contain correspondence between leading scientists in the climate change debate.   The hacked data has been confirmed as genuine, and needless to say, it provides damning evidence about the junk science being used to hype global warming.

This is Al Gore's 'Wizard of Oz' moment... "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Certainly, many in the media will gladly oblige, and ignore the scandal.

Hopefully the following proves to be true:

"... these revelations of fudged science should have a cooling effect on global-warming hysteria and the panicked policies that are being pushed forward to address the unproven theory."

Update: More on Climategate here.

When ideology trumps common sense ...

Powerline, regarding Obama's job creation strategy... 

"Here as in other areas, the Obama administration will dither because its ideological blinders won't allow it to consider what most people know is the most effective course of action."

krauthammer on the ...

baby jesus.

Krauthammer on Fort Hood massacre

Obama, Newsweek, Time, ABC,  (the list goes on ...) lack any ability to acknowledge reality, as it relates to Hasan's motives in the Fort Hood murders. 

Krauthammer sees through their politically correct sensibilities...

"Have we totally lost our moral bearings? Nidal Hasan (allegedly) cold-bloodedly killed 13 innocent people. In such cases, political correctness is not just an abomination. It’s a danger, clear and present."

Read the whole thing.

US seeks to seize Iran's US assets

I'm wagering that the DoJ under Obama will not have the stomach to see this through.  Certainly the investigation pre-dates Obama, but it will go away (quietly).

Obama grants rare interview to communications arm of the Republican Party.

President Obama graciously grants interview to Major Garrett (first reported by Drudge).

remember when...

whistle-blowers were heroes?

... and Chicago Mayor Daley blames America's love of guns

Daley on Ft. Hood massacre:

“Unfortunately, America loves Guns ... You don’t blame a group.”

So, while Daley refuses to blame the slaughter on a group (read Islam), he then proceeds to ... [drumroll] ... blame a group (read gun-loving Americans).

And what is Daley lobbying for here, anyway?  Increased gun control at US Army bases?  Really?  Again, like Obama earlier, this is a case of tortured logic simply to avoid mention of Islam.

Obama blames Fort Hood massacre on 'stress'.

Obama: Hasan May Have Cracked Under Stress

"...in a country of 300 million people, there are going to be acts of violence that are inexplicable..."

... as if Hasan's actions were some random drugstore hold-up gone wrong.

Is Obama really so completely disconnected with reality that he thinks this massacre actually is "inexplicable"??

This is simply Obama's way to avoid any mention of Islam in the same sentence as Fort Hood...

What would we do without Hollywood?

This MoveOn ad checks all the boxes:

1. Demonize business for being profitable (✓)
2. Pretend public option is really about increasing competition (✓)
3. Grossly exaggerate polling support for the option (✓)
4. General hollywood smugness (✓, ✓, ✓)

"Don't be frightened. We mean no harm..."

... The new 'V' series on ABC looks to be a not-so-subtle commentary on Obama and his followers.

The guys at Powerline on the return of Zelaya:

"It is perfectly fitting that the signal diplomatic triumph of President Obama's first year in office is the restoration to power of the lawfully deposed Honduran thug and friend of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Hugh Chavez. It is inimical to the national interest of the United States. it is a setback for the supporters of democracy in the beleaguered country of Honduras. And it is a defeat for those who believe in the rule of law. It is, in other words, a triumph of "smart diplomacy."   ... Link

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6896536.ece

The 'Iran Problem' ...

The 'Iran Problem' is discussed on "Uncommon Knowledge". Victor David Hanson (in part 4 of a 5 part series) describes the current administrations preferred relationship with Israel. He says the Obama administration ...

"wants to be neutral in the way that Europe is toward Israel."

One could argue that much of Europe is something other than neutral toward Israel, but Hanson's point remains.

Pelosi puts lipstick on the pig ...

Presenting, the shiny new (but the same) 'competitive' option.

"When people think of the public option, public is being misrepresented, that this is being paid for with their public dollars." -Nancy Pelosi

Riiiiiiiight ... Since when has the US government operated any program at a profit? The US Postal Service? The government provided the USPS with a monopoly, and still they can't break even. Amtrak? No, not close. Still looking for a truly self-funded government-run program.

Here is a tip, Nancy... If you want to introduce competition to the health care market, remove the regulations that currently prevent the market from behaving competitively. Specifically, allow health insurance providers to sell insurance across state lines.

The idea that the Obama adminstration and Congress are even remotely interested in creating a more 'competitive' marketplace is laughable. They might label it as such to sell what they are pushing, but I, for one, ain't buying it ... Dang - maybe I don't have a choice.

Krauthammer, as always,

is right on the money with this.  Thank goodness we're not still saddled with W's stupidity.  He lacked the nuance to pull off the gaffes strategic diplomacy with which Obama has dazzled Putin, among others (Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria).

But hey, we know Obama is willing to deal roughly with those who leave him no option: Honduras, Israel, Canada, the UK, Poland, the Ukraine..

Remember when the Dems were concerned about the military?

Neither do I, but they used to pretend better than this.  Taking funds out of the military budget to fund a memorial to Ted Kennedy?  It's beyond parody, as is the fact that they're not even embarrassed about it.

Of course, in fairness, this theft appears to be a bipartisan effort...

There is at least 1 thing government is good at ... growing.

"From the founding of the Republic to 1929, spending by governments at all levels, federal, state, and local never exceeded 12 percent of the national income except in time of major war, and two-thirds of that was state and local spending. Federal spending typically amounted to 3 percent or less of the national income. Since 1933 government spending has never been less than 20 percent of national income and is now over 40 percent and two-thirds of that is spending by the federal government."

--From Milton Friedman's book "Free to Choose"

That was in 1980. In 2008, government spending accounted for about 45% of the national income.  And today? I'm afraid to learn the answer when the current administration gets done with it.

1930s revisited..

Chicago Tribune 1934

not to beat a dead horse, er.. dog, but

didn't the NFL just give us a taste of football's moral compass?

A timely message from ... 1937?

In 1937, in response to FDR's New Deal, US Senator Josiah Bailey co-authored a document that came to be known as the "Conservative Manifesto".

The points of the document ring as true today as they did in 1937. But who among the current republican leadership could communicate a message like this to the American people?

The following are the ten points of the Conservative Manifesto (1937), as described by the New York Times:

1. Immediate revision of taxes on capital gains and undistributed profits in order to free investment funds.
2. Reduced expenditures to achieve a balanced budget, and thus, to still fears deterring business expansion.
3. An end to coercion and violence in relations between capital and labor.
4. Opposition to "unnecessary" government competition with private enterprise.
5. Recognition that private investment and enterprise require a reasonable profit.
6. Safeguarding the collateral upon which credit rests.
7. Reduction of taxes, or if this proved impossible at the moment, firm assurance of no further increases.
8. Maintenance of state rights, home rule, and local self-government, except where proved definitely inadequate.
9. Economical and non-political relief to unemployed with maximum local responsibility.
10. Reliance upon the American form of government and the American system of enterprise.

i guess i didn't realize

that we had agreed to impose morality tests on would-be nfl franchisees? is the corollary that all of the owners up to now have passed this test?

shouldn't the libs mourn this kind of stuff as well? the behavior here is the kind of mccarthyism the left complains of ceaselessly, but without actual cause.

limbaugh should say "screw 'em" and buy the team alone.