Breakfast Scramble: War Powers Act Edition

Playing the Allinsky Card on Obama, one of the mantras of Allinskyism to make your opponent live up to his own standards, In that regard Glenn Greenwald lays a beauty down on Dumbo, b/k/a Barack Obama, from Salon:

“The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation” — candidate Barack Obama, December,

Obama’s war of choice on Libya is now officially illegal.    So sayeth candidate Obama.

Bibi comes to town, reax from Jeffery Goldberg, Atlantic:

For whatever reason, I tend to react strongly when a foreign leader disrespects the United States, and its President. I didn’t like it when Hugo Chavez of Venezuela insulted President Bush; I don’t like listening to Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan lecture the U.S. on its sins, and I’m not happy when certain Pakistani leaders gin-up righteous indignation about American behavior when it was their country that served as a refuge for the greatest mass murderer in American history.

And so I was similarly taken aback when I read a statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday that he “expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both House of Congress.”

So Netanyahu “expects” to hear this from the President of the United States? And if President Obama doesn’t walk back the speech, what will Netanyahu do? Will he cut off Israeli military aid to the U.S.? Will he cease to fight for the U.S. in the United Nations, and in the many international forums that treat Israel as a pariah?

Counter-reax, William Jacobson, Legal Insurrection:

But what if Netanyahu did use the word “expect” as a demand.  Is it so wrong for a foreign leader to “expect” that the U.S. will honor prior security assurances?

And particularly in this case, where those assurance were given as an inducement for Israel to leave Gaza (we know how that worked out), is it so outrageous for Israel to “expect” the U.S. to keep its word?  I would expect nothing less from my president.

What Netanyahu did was to give the President of the United States a very firm and forceful history lesson.    See next.

Bibi to ‘Bama: “It is not going to happen”, Jeff Dunetz calls this a smack down, from Yid with a Lid:

It was a stunning tableau, a President of the United States sitting back and glaring while the Prime Minister of Israel pushed back against the words made by the POTUS yesterday.  Both parties made their presentations in friendly diplomatic words, but Netanyahu gave the President a “friendly” dressing down, his words were instructive and firm. You could tell by the body language that Bibi was letting the President know that he was not going to give in, and Obama was very angry.

video:

Is college a rip off? From Rich Lowry, RCP:

There’s no doubt that graduating from college brings a significant economic advantage, but that doesn’t excuse the waste and self-satisfied lassitude of American higher education. Colleges appropriate tuition dollars from America’s students with an ever-accelerating voracity, yet don’t deliver any additional educational benefits – indeed, they do the opposite. Higher education is one of the sectors of American life that most desperately needs a thorough re-conception.

I not against college, per se.   Rather,  the perspective employee is a commodity in the job market.   To get a job, an applicant must convince his prospective employer, that he a commodity worth buying.     A college degree is but one part winning job skill set.

Middle Village, NYC,NY– It’s an OK place, but I don’t know as I’d want to live here. Too damned crowded for one thing. I’m here unloading at a mall, after having driven in in the small hours of  the morning… which if you’re driving anything larger than a pair of roller skates is decidedly the easiest way to get in here. Now, trouble is, I’ll be leaving here in the afternoon rush hour. (sigh)

• NOBODY KNEW? REALLY? Gates says there’s no evidence that Pakistani authorities knew Bin Laden was hiding in their country.   So, the whole thing hangs on legally plausible deny-ability?  Utter bull and everyone knows it. I’ll bet the left wonders why the rest of the world isn’t taking the US seriously, anymore, huh?
• OBAMA THE DUMBER: David tossed in the Scramble this morning, word of Oama trying to slap the hands of the Boston Herald. He’s right arrogance is the word.  Nixonian, in nature and most certainly elitist.  There’s a number of dictators around the world both currently and in history who play that game with Impunity. Two problems with that here: !: Despite Obama’s best efforts this is still (barely) America. Secondly, Obama’s smarts simply don’t measure up to hose other dictators.
• WELCOME TO HOPE AND CHANGE: That now seems to include the rest of the world.
• GOVERNMENT GUN RUNNING: What we have here is an ATF operation at the behest of the White House, in which ATF operatives ran guns to drug runners in Mexico to “prove” that gun shops along the border were a problem. Of course now that the word is out, the whole thing is getting buried.
• ANOTHER BS STUDY: I call BS in this “study”, that Glenn mentions.  There’s a good reason why some want Target listed as cheaper than Wal-Mart. Target is union friendly, and donates heavily to leftists. Wal-Mart does not, and isn’t. It’s that simple.
• A PREDICTION FOR THE NEXT ELECTION: The Democrats are in deep doo-doo, and know it very well. Watch for “Voter fraud” to be an issue talked about by Democrats.  Here a reality bat to hit ’em over the head with: The only vote fraud in recent years on the national scene, has been created by Democrats in support of Democrats. Philly’s Black Panthers local “guarding” vote booths with clubs in hand leaps to mind.

Obama the Sensitive, what a winning combination for a President, a thick skull and thin skin, from Michelle:

And now, the Boston Herald has been spanked by the White House for…running a front-page op-ed by Mitt Romney:

more reax, Alex Alvarez, Mediaite:

A Romney spokesperson weighed in by noting that the “op-ed was about jobs, which apparently is a sensitive subject for the thin-skinned people around the president.” The Herald has also, in the past, featured less than flattering front page coverage of Romney.

And more reax, Moe Lane:

Unfortunately – for the country, the Democratic party, and (increasingly) President Obama – our current Commander in Chief never got to experience the dubious joys of a good media curbstomping.    As a result, neither he nor his team is really ready to handle anything that resembles an adverse media atmosphere, which is why we keep seeing stories like this.  Whether or not these provocations by this administration will translate into actual warfare with the press later on is still open to question.  On the one hand, the media is predisposed to liking Democrats.  On the other hand, their favorite story in the whole, wide world is The God That Failed.

It is a shame that Dumbo does not read Clarice Feldman.   It would sure curb his arrogance. 

Foggy Bottom blows off Carter,  Allah Pundit links the State Department response to Carter’s latest amateur diplomatic effort, via Hot Air:

Former President Jimmy Carter and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari were hoping to visit the State Department this week to brief officials on their recent trip to North Korea, but nobody at the State Department was available to meet with them… It’s no secret at all that the Elders’ trip to North Korea was viewed as extremely unhelpful by the governments both in Washington and Seoul. Chris Nelson reported on April 29 that Clinton reacted strongly when asked in a morning meeting if she wanted to meet with Carter. From the Nelson report: “The performance of President Carter and his delegation in N. Korea this week was either shameful or fatuous…or both…and exemplifies why Carter had no…zero…USG support going in, and even less coming out, per an alleged eye witness account of Sec. St. Clinton at the morning meeting the other day: “‘Do you want to meet with Carter?’ Clinton is looking at papers, and just says ‘No.’ Then she pauses, looks up and adds, ‘HELL no!!!'”

Mrs. Clinton told Jimmy where to go,   I give  Mrs. Clinton kudos for doing what should have been done long ago, putting the irksome meddler Jimmy Carter in the place.   However, Mrs. Clinton let her legendary temper get the better of her.   Revenge is dish best served cold   Rather the blowing her stack, Mrs.  Cl;inton should  treated Carter with condescending indifference.  Has the State Department ever heard of the Logan Act?  Evidently not.

‘Rats tell consumers to take a hike, The exorbitant cost of gasoline is real problem and a real issue to real people, but not the dim witted democrats in the Senate, video: Hat tip: Tina Korbe, Hot Air.

C is for Cad, as in Clinton,  men who jerks crave political power and they crave women   Yet of the many political cads, Andrea Peyser over looks a notable one.   B.J. Clinton in Peyser’s is missing list of political cads , New York Post:

Some power-hungry sex addicts cheat on their wives: Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey.  Some whore hounds father children with random women while running for president, as their wives lie dying from cancer: John Edwards.  […] But Maria stood by her man, denying that her Arnold would ever touch anyone, unwanted. Arnold, however, never denied the allegations.  Instead, he admitted he “behaved badly sometimes.”  “I have done things that were not right,” he explained on the campaign trail years ago, adding, “which I thought then was playful.”  This isn’t play. This is a human.

As to cads, as a Kennedy Maria Shriver should qualify as an expert in recognizing them.   All Kennedy men are cads, and the Kennedy women protect them.   Kennedy women are not stupid,but they are well paid by the feckless husbands.    Mrs. Clinton protected her husband from the truthful allegations of Jennifer Flowers by lying on national television, to wit Sixty Minutes.    As for Shriver, I’d be less than shocked to learn that Shriver played the dutiful Kennedy style wife role to protect her husband’s political career.   That is until he no longer had a political career.

Mineola,NY– OK, enough, already. I’ve had my entire week rained out. We’ve actually got some sun mixed in with the clouds as this is written, but sheesh. ..

Anyway, I’m out on Long Island, again. Interestingly a lot of these places I deliver to out here are now on a first name basis with me… makes things much easier to work with, I must say.

GINGRICH IMPLODES: Yes, I’ve seen the business with Newt Gingrich. I posted this at OTB this morning and may as well use it here as well., I’m not at all surprised at his comments or the reaction, though I must say that this must be a record for the quickest self-implosion of a presidential campaign. Frankly, my money was on Ron Paul for that honor.

Look, even before this blew up, Paul Ryan had a better shot at getting nominated and winning the White House than Gingrich ever did.  Gingrich is no idiot, and should have known this.  He has a habit of popping out what’s in his head at the moment, which to my way of thinking makes him a poor president, much less a presidential candidate. Gingrich’s history is replete with many such unguarded comments. This one was unforgivable. He’s spent a lot of time in the last 48 hours trying to back away from his comment. It won’t work.

The Democrats now will have Gingich’s comments in all their ads for the whole of the next election cycle. He’s basically written their whole campaign for them.

But you know there are a number of things that these events tell us. First, as to what it says about the current crop of contenders; It is lacking. As I’ve said, Newt Gingrich is not a total idiot. He looked at the field, and correctly identified that there was a weakness out there, and so figured he had a shot at the thing.

His problem of course is that he has seriously mis-identified the mood of the GOP rank and file, which is the other thing it exposes to us; The mood is far more seriously conservative than Gingrich saw… and frankly, more serious than any of the establishment GOP has seen fit to acknowledge as yet.  Gingrich was obviously going for the triangulation thing that Clinton and Bush used…. and once so identified, the rank and file shut him down before the echoes of “right wing social engineering” died.

Here’s a clue, Newt; There’s no such thing as “right wing Social Engineering”.  The right is about undoing the social engineering the left has been subjecting us to. That even for a brief moment, you couldn’t identify that as such, disqualifies you. See ya.

A side note to anyone else thinking of running as a Republican….. Best to actually BE conservative, lest the rank and file turn on you, as well.

Man bites Dog, Talking Point Memo attacks Dirty Harry Reid:

Republicans may have a point that Democrats are playing politics with oil subsidies. To understand why, look no further than the fact that the bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring to the floor for a vote Tuesday evening doesn’t pass basic constitutional muster

Black employment tops sixteen percent, from Caroline May, Daily Caller:

African Americans have the highest unemployment rate of any ethnic group in America, and the disparity is raising eyebrows.

According the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the black unemployment rate hovers at 16.1 percent – compared with 8 percent among whites, 11.8 percent among Hispanics, and 6.4 percent among Asians. The most recent figures pin the total unemployment rate at 9 percent.

To which, the Reverend Jesse Jackson sees only one problem, to wit white racism:

To Reverend Jesse Jackson the high numbers of unemployed blacks is a “cry for help,” due to systematic racism and a failure to enforce the law. Help has not, however, been as forthcoming as the civil rights leader would have liked to see. For, while the president has had numerous conferences on the economic struggles of Americans, Jackson

Where the Reverend Jackson sees nothing but race,Ta-Nehisi Coates, Atlantic does not:

I’ve spent much of my adult life studying various theories of race and racism, and the last few years in a rather intensive mode of study. In all of that time one inescapable conclusion has dogged me: Race is such bullshit.

Where the Reverend Jackson calls for yet more government hand-outs, Victor Davis Hanson fifty yeas or failure, Pajamas Media:

We have had about a half-century of racial preferences and often unspoken but real quotas for hiring and admission based on racial identity. If the original intent was to level the playing field for African-Americans and Latinos, who had been subject to systematic and often gratuitously mean discrimination throughout much of the American South and Southwest, nonetheless the current rationale for sustaining affirmative action has become a veritable nightmare of contradictions, biases, and incoherence that is now well beyond reform. Conservatives mostly believe this; an increasing number of liberals quietly think it.

We have tired affirmative action, both the the form of equality of opportunity and in the form of equality of outcome.   They have not worked, and we can no longer afford them.   Their time should lapse.

Paul Ryan fires back, from Charles Riley, CNN:

“Our plan is to give seniors the power to deny business to inefficient providers,” he said. “Their plan is to give government the power to deny care to seniors.”

Democrats are all in favor or choice, just so long as they get to make all the choices.

Speaking of choices, the girls and is Jill, Deb and Jen, have made their choice for President and it is Ryan,  from Pundit & Pundette:

Paul Ryan for President?

I wish. Jeffrey Anderson joins Jennifer Rubin in calling for Rep. Paul Ryan to run for president. I think it’s a fantasy, but a very appealing one. Ryan blows Daniels’s socks off:

And Nice Deb:

Pundette has much more on the Gingrich meltdown: Gingrich vs Ryan: No contest.

And she’s jumping on the Paul Ryan for President bandwagon:Paul Ryan for President?

Kinda like I did 14 months ago. (Heh)

Looks like if Ryan were to run, he’d have the inside track on the conservative chic vote.

Bronx, NY– As this is posted, I’m in The Bronx, waiting to be unloaded. I ran back to Mountaintop,PA overnight (Through heavy fog) to get this load headed for the Bronx. I’m certainly getting to see lots of the big city of late.

• OBAMA STIMULUS KILLED A MILLION JOBS: Report. The only thing that is surprising about this is that there’s anyone left on earth who should find this surprising. Doug over at OTB makes note of the report of which I speak.
• GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE IN ACTION:(Or is that inaction?) Anyway, Bruce McQuain at Q&O passes on this little tidbit:
  

  A former NHS director died after waiting for nine months for an operation – at her own hospital.

  Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.

  But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.

  Says Bruce:

  Obviously her access to government run health care via single payer insurance did her no good (remember, supposedly insuring everyone is “the answer”).  She ended up being lost in the shuffle, critical care was continuously put off and, as a result, she died.

  Well, yes, obviously. But consider; this is Hospital brass getting lost in the shuffle. Imagine the average person’s chances with this “system”. And remember, gang this is the model Obama’s shooting for.Bruce also points out that Romney’s plan isn’t all that different, either.  And as I suggested the other day… or was it yesterday, why would I support Romney, given that?

• ANARCHY? REALLY? I’d be interested in seeing Billy Beck comment on this.
• FRENCH SOCIALISM AND THE SPREAD OF IT: Speaking of Billy, he notes McPhillips:
  

  “The silver lining of the Manhattan hotel maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her is the deep reassurance of learning that the International Monetary Fund has been in the capable hands of a French socialist.”

  Well of course he’s a socialist.  Martin, I point you to the seemingly hard and fast rule that when the Democrats get into power in this country, our foreign policy seems to exist to kiss the backside of the French “diplomat”. Do you begin to understand why?

  Meanwhile, Roger Simon over at PJM wonders if the sexual escapades of the French are cultural… and wonders if the cultural weakness shows an insufficiently moral stature to be handed such leadership roles in the world as a matter of routine.

  But moral disconnection seems to be at the root of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s behavior.  A supposed leftist and one-time student communist, he lived the most extravagant personal lifestyle replete with three thousand dollar hotel suites, thirty-five thousand dollar suits (Strauss-Kahn is suing over this allegation by France Soir — but what if they’re only twenty thousand?), unlimited first class seats on Air France, Porsches, etc.

  Even in Hollywood such hypocrisy would be frowned upon (well, mostly), but the French seemed to like it, his poll numbers going up even as the accusations of “champagne socialism” from the Sarkozy camp increased.  A 2008 admission of adultery with an underling at the IMF — a young Hungarian economist — was essentially ignored after DSK made a pro forma apology.  The French evidently admired him as a “grand séducteur.”

  Now, of course, with accusations of rape and what they call “fellation,” things are different.  But how will French society at large process this?  Will we still be naive Americans with our prudish ways?

  I submit, Roger, that such socialists are by their nature morally bankrupt. Absent such imorality, how to explain their willingness to spend other people’s money to achieve their goals?

• ABOUT THOSE CUTS: The people overwhelmingly want massive spending cuts, the Democrats keep ignoring them.  Does anyone doubt how that’s oing to come out in the next election?
• IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, AND I FEEL FINE: Yes, I’ve seen the nonsense about May 21 being judgement day. Sorry, it;’s not.  Apparently, these supposed Christians haven’t picked up a Bible of late, else they would have noticed Jesus telling us “”Ye Shall Know Neither the Hour Nor the Day””
• STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR DEMOCRATS: Glenn points out that the charges are baseless as usual, in Wisconsin.

Allah Pundit has found another celebutard who has mistaken, Dumbo, b/k/a Barack Obama for intelligent, from Hot Air:

A late evening palate cleanser via CNS — and not the first time that they’ve spun video gold from waylaying poor old Tony Bennett. Remember when they caught up to him at an event two years ago and found him urging Americans to support Obama in anything he wants to do? How many trillions per year would the deficit be now if we had taken that advice?

Another celebutard who does not read Bitsblog and has not heard of Clarice Feldman.   I repeat myself, but Clarice lays waste to the notion that President Fifty Seven States is intelligent,  see Clarice, here, here and here.

Obami give birth to the deathers, Andrew Malcolm professes to be confused why so much of the public refuses to accept the Obama administration’s claim of the death of Usama bin Laden at face value, from the Los Angeles Times:

Here we go again.

It’s been only two weeks since President Obama reported on national television that an American commando team in four military helicopters had killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan bedroom. Within literally minutes, word of the terrorist’s death by gunshot prompted seemingly spontaneous street celebrations outside the White House and elsewhere.

Now comes word from noted pollster John Zogby that while an overwhelming majority buys the administration’s account, a surprising almost one-in-five likely American voters believes the Al Qaeda founder is not dead at all, nor buried at sea, as Obama officials have stated.

How could this possibly be?

Now I do believe the Usama bin Laden is dead,  thanks to Leon Panetta  and not Dumbo b/k/a Barack Obama.   However, let me count the ways not to believe:

• Both Obama and the Obami are easily confused.
• Both will lie about anything.
• Obama was disparate for a boost in his poll ratings.
• The administration has refused to make public any proof of their claim.
• The administration has demonstrated no knowledge of the operation’s narrative.

Trump to Trump: You’re fired, L. Donald Trump announces the obvious, from David Bauder and Beth Fouhy:

NEW YORK (AP) – After months of flirting with politics, Donald Trump said Monday he won’t run for president, choosing to stick with hosting “The Celebrity Apprentice” over a bid for the Republican nomination.

The reality TV star and real estate mogul made his announcement at a Manhattan hotel as NBC, which airs his show, rolled out its fall lineup.

“I will not be running for president as much as I’d like to,” Trump said

I think that profanity laced tirade in Las Vegas did in what ever chance L. Donald had.

More, Michelle:

Donald Trump squandered untold political oxygen exploiting the Tea Party while backing government bailouts, Obamacare, the porkulus, and wealth/property redistribution.

Now, he’s squeezing a 16th minute out of his announcement today that he won’t run for the GOP presidential nomination.

Good riddance:

Newt tried to remove his foot from his mouth,  I like Newt Gingrich, as a pundit, not a candidate for President.  Gingrich simply makes too many unforced errors, from New York Times:

Newt Gingrich has acknowledged that his tendency to spout off like a political analyst might get him into trouble on the campaign trail.

On Monday, Mr. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, sought to explain away just that kind of Sunday-morning pontification, in which he blasted the budget by his Republican colleagues in Congress and endorsed an individual mandate for health insurance.

Of course Gingrich is a real college professor, and not just one who pretends to have been one from the Oval Office.

Seventy-five feet of global warming:

North Cascade Highway in Washington State

Running just south of the U.S. border with Canada, you’d expect the North Cascade Highway to be subject to some wintry weather occasionally.

But this weekend drivers on State Route 20 – which passes from Port Townsend in west Washington State to Newport in the east – found that snow chains wouldn’t be sufficient after an incredible 75 feet of snow covered a 40-mile stretch of the highway.

And the heavy snowfall could keep the road closed for another week, which would mark its latest spring reopening in 30 years.

Brooklyn, NY–

Me docked at Brooklyn

I’m in Brooklyn as this is posted. I ran from Rochester to Carlisle, PA last night, arriving there about 1am, and then to here.  Rain the whole way, and there’s some flooding going on in the northeast. Made driving … ummm… interesting. One of the guys I trained got assigned a new (to him) truck… a carbon copy of my own… and we both had runs to the Harrisburg/Carlisle area last night, so we ran together from the yard outside Rochester. That was rewarding in it’s own way.  Gonna be a bit of a long week, this one, I think. Just a feeling.

LOOKING AROUND:

• PORN FOUND IN BINLADEN HDEOUT: This is rich:
  

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday.

  The pornography recovered in bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.

  The officials said they were not yet sure precisely where in the compound the pornography was discovered or who had been viewing it. Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.

  (A nod to the NY Post, for the cover…. and no, it’s not real… I think) Interesting.   Would have been more so, had someone noticed homosexual porn in the stash, huh? And isn’t having such material punishable by death in the world of radical Islam? Good we got him when we did, I guess.

• SOCIALIST IMF LEADER ARRESTED; SEXUAL ASSAULT: Can someone please explain why the press is attempting to bury this one?
• WELCOME TO HOPE AND CHANGE: Here comes the inflation. Jimmy Carter is no longer the worst president in our history.
• ROMNEY:TOAST… BUT WHAT OF OBAMACARE? Paul Hsieh has an interesting article up over at Pajamas Media; Massachusetts: The Canary in the Coal Mine for ObamaCare. In it, he notes the RomneyCare model… which is only different from Obamacare in that it’s state and not federal government run,  has fallen short of the Utopia we were sold:
  

  The Massachusetts Medical Society recently reported that the state law has resulted in “longer patient wait times [and] continued difficult access to primary care physicians.” The average wait time in Massachusetts to see an internal medicine physician is now 48 days — double the national average. Over half of primary care practices are no longer accepting new patients. Fewer physicians are accepting the state-run Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice insurance plans. So although Massachusetts politicians frequently boast that they have increased “coverage,” many patients cannot find doctors to provide them with actual medical care.

  Meanwhile health costs continue to skyrocket out of control, both for the state government and for privately insured patients. In a recent Forbes article, Sally Pipes notes that over the next 10 years, the plan will cost the state government $2 billion more than predicted. Similarly, prior to the new law insurance prices in Massachusetts increased at a rate 3.7% slower than the national average; after the “reform,” they’re increasing 5.8% faster.

  Hsieh points out that doctors are leaving the state in droves, retiring early etc.

  One of the ways ObamaCare will attempt to expand “coverage” will be via dramatically expanding the Medicaid program. But as Medicaid patient Nicole Dardeau recently told the New York Times, “My Medicaid card is useless for me right now…. It’s a useless piece of plastic. I can’t find an orthopedic surgeon or a pain management doctor who will accept Medicaid.” New Orleans ER physician James Aiken similarly noted, “Having a Medicaid card in no way assures access to care.” Once again, politicians can promise theoretical “coverage,” but this is not the same as actual medical care.

  Again , I point out that the only difference between these two programs is that one is run by the Federal government, one by the state.  Given the usual proclivity of Democrats to federalize everything, rest assured the that difference, whatever minuscule degree of advantage it might be, will disappear. In either event, the thing is indefensible. It’s unworkable.

  That fact has become increasingly apparent as time has gone on.  As people get exposed to government run healthcare, the more they recognize that it’s unworkable.
  

  And look; Why on God’s green earth would I sign on to support of Romney when the difference between he and the walking disaster named Obama isn’t enough to bother mentioning? That talk he gave the other day didn’t help explain this away, either, as if anything could.  The best description of Romney and his talk the other day,  is an impassioned defense of Obamacare. He thus disqualifies himself from the office of President.  And by the way, this is nothing new, here… I’ve been saying it for twenty years now;  What’s the point of voting republican if they come off being nothing more than Democrat -Lite? That’s the position Romney finds himself in just now.  And frankly, I don’t see that situation changing, mostly because he’s dug himself a hole far too deep to crawl out of, now. We can best be served by Romney going away… with no further dancing around.

• NO HUCK:
  

  B.J. Clinton and Make Huckabee, the dopes from Hope

  Word is that Mike Huckabee won’t be running.

  The morning after announcing that he wasn’t joining the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee gave his views on the remainder of the candidates.

  “Frankly my feelings and emotions are still a little raw from the whole process because up until a few days ago I honestly thought I would be in it,” Huckabee said on “Fox News Sunday.”

  He announced on his own eponymous Fox News show on Saturday that he would not join the race.

  Huckabee said he would not immediately endorse any of the declared or undeclared Republicans, but he had kind words for some.

  Forgive me, but the weight that any endorsement by Huckabee would carry is a negative, to my mind. it would be best for conservatism as a whole, and for that matter this country, if he would keep his endorsement to himself.  The he’s doing that just now, strikes me as the first correct thing he’s done in many years. He would do us all a major favor by bowing out of the public eye altogether, though I suspect he probably doesn’t have the smarts to do that.

• OBAMA DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE OUT BINLADEN? Frankly, I don’t link to Atlas Shrugs nearly as much as I should mostly because the stuff is so dense that it doesn’t exerpt out well. Mind, that’s a compliment. That said,  I need you to go and read this article .The picture that it paints of the despicable lack of leadership in this White House  is horrifying, at least. If true, (…and frankly I wouldn’t put it past this White House…) … it shows us what a huge mistake we made in giving Obama the reins. I have heard more than once that the decision did not come from Obama himself, but from Leon Panetta and those surrounding him.  The idea that he’s going around taking credit for it now, despite having gone down kicking and screaming on the thing, and despite outlying the interrogation methods that got us the information that got us BinLaden, shouldn’t surprise anyone , but it should anger us into action.
• Obama: I’ve got an idea…., Let’s Start Drilling in Alaska! Here’s another example of how Obama got dragged kicking and screaming the whole way toward a decision that should have been made with far less drama at least two years ago.  But as usual, the solution offered is more of a political one than a practical one.
  

  The White House will take a series of steps — including expediting drilling plans on government lands in Alaska — designed to show that the administration is serious about expanding domestic oil production and lowering gas prices.

  In short, the White House is making a show of this.  Rather than doing it two years ago because it was the right thing to do, they’re doing it now, because they’re the only ones who didn’t know was the right thing to do, and are trying to scramble to save their own cushy jobs for a second term.  I don’t think it’s going to work, but there it is.The reason I don’t think it’s going to work, is twofold; people are going to remember whose decision it was to not do this until now.  Further, the devil as with all Democrats is in the details.  Allowing leases were oil isn’t, and where costs are prohibitive, which is what they’ve been doing up until now, isn’t going to get it done.  I haven’t seen the details yet, but frankly I suspected before the echo died, that that’s what they’re up to.  I also suspect I’m not alone. bluntly, the huge public relations pushes that we seen from this white house so very seldom work out practically that the public is beginning to catch on they’re being lied to.

  Isn’t it time we had a White House that actually led, as opposed to reacted?

Noted in passing, I see that the Dope from Hope. b/k/a Mike Huckabee is not running for President.  If Mr Huckabee wants to be President, he should run as what he is, a democrat.  Good riddens

Meanwhile, Dumbo, b/k/a Barack Obama is pretending to support increased domestic production of oil and immigration reform.    I got some Louisiana river front property for you.

Politics Chicago style, from Bill Wilson, Daily Caller, NLRB to Boeing: Shut up!

Joe “Lips bigger than Lewinsky” Biden as reported by Toby Harden, Telegraph (UK):

Let me briefly acknowledge tonight’s distinguished honorees.  Admiral James Stavridis is a, is the real deal.  He can tell you more about and understands the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALs and what they did last Sunday.

Mr. Vice President, STFU.

Hat tip: Ed Morrissey, Hot Air.

They’re the heroes that killed America’s most wanted terrorist in a high-stakes covert mission.  Of course they became America’s heroes.  They appreciate the outpouring of support, love, and recognition, they really do.  But what the Navy SEALs would really like is for people to stop talking about their tactics and leave them alone so they can conduct their business successfully in the future:

Killing Usama bin Laden didn’t make the SEALS heroes.  Killing bin Laden was their job.  There are heroes for holding up their right hand, taking the Oath and living up to it.  Bravo Zulu gentlemen.

Obami bin Laden spin unravels, from Wajid Ali Syed. News:

[Leon] Panetta was directing the operation with both his CIA operatives and the military. The plan was not to capture but to kill bin Laden on sight. Contrary to the news reports, it was Panetta and not President Obama who took the lead on coordinating the details of the mission.

According to the source, the White House staff has compromised the identity of the unit that carried out the mission. The source said the claim that the raid yielded a “treasure trove” of information about al-Qaeda is also exaggerated. Obama meanwhile is “milking” the mission as a tactic to better his chances of re-election in 2012. The concern in intelligence circles is that in his zeal to boost his approval ratings, the president is harming relations with Pakistan.

Evidence that Panetta and not the Obama White House issued the order to take out Usama bin Laden is the fact that the operation remained a secret.  Had the White House been in on the planning, “Lewisnsky Lips” Biden would have blabbed it.

Reich comes up short, Robert Reich thinks making a profit is embarrassing. frpm the San Francisco Chronicle:

ExxonMobil’s first-quarter earnings of $10.7 billion are up 69 percent from last year. Other oil companies are also scoring record gains. The five biggest oil companies together report more than $35 billion in profits.

This gusher is an embarrassment for an industry seeking to keep its $4 billion annual tax subsidy from the U.S. government. It’s especially embarrassing at a time when Americans are paying $4 a gallon or more at the pump.

No Mr. Reich, producing a needed product and turning a profit is not embarrassing.   It is called good business    This is embarrassing, from Debbie Cenziper and Jonathan Mummolo, Washington Post:

The federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or the local housing agencies that funded them.

Nationwide, nearly 700 projects awarded $400 million have been idling for years, a Washington Post investigation found. Some have languished for a decade or longer even as much of the country struggles with record-high foreclosures and a dramatic loss of affordable housing.

Or would but it the government had any senses of shame.  When I give Exxon/Mobile, well really Mr. Hess, four dollars I get a gallon of gasoline which I need, and Mr Hess gets what a dime?  It called win-win.

Conversely when Uncle Sam takes my money, I neither have the money which I need to buy gas and food. and the poor do not get housing.  That is called lose-lose, and it ought to shame Reich, if  he were but capable of shame.   If big oil ran their businesses like HUD, they be all broke, and we’d be all walking.

More Yglesias, if you are to believe Matthew Yglesias, Newt Gingrich said:

“You know, folks often talk about immigration. I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. [applause] But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history. [applause] You realize how many of our high school graduates because of the decay of the educational system, couldn’t pass a citizenship test.”

To which Mr. Yglesias responded:

For one thing, Gingrich really shouldn’t be running for president on a platform of adding an American history component to the citizenship test without trying some sample questions first. He might realize that history questions already feature prominently on the test. Meanwhile, if Gingrich himself wants to avoid flunking history he might take note of the fact that making US citizens take a poll test would be illegal under the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That’s for the very good reason that the historical purpose of such proposals has been to prevent black people form voting. This is certainly more subtle than Ron Paul’s direct criticism of the Civil Rights Act but either way the spirit is hard to miss.

This is what is called a target rich environment.   Did  Yglesias even read what he posted?   Mr. Gingrich is talking about  having native born Americans, as in non-immigrants, take a test on American history.    Yglesais expresses no heartburn over non-native born Americans having to take an American history test as part of the citizenship process.

What Gingrich is suggesting is requiring native born citizens to meet the same requirement to know American history as naturalized citizens.    Yet for reasons not  discernible to rational mankind, Yglesias endorses the  latter requirement but calls the former racist.  Go figure.

Questions for Dumbo, here just one from Victor Davis Hanson, Pajamas Media:

We are to believe that future additional drilling in the U.S. will not help lower world oil or gas prices, but calling on the Middle East to pump more, or praising Brazil’s proposed commitment to offshore exploration, will?

VDH has a raft more at the link.

Newt the grenade thrower,  I don’t think Newt Gingrich is emotionally stable enough to be president, but he does know how to lob a political grenade, from Philip Rucker, Washington Post:

MACON, Ga. — Newt Gingrich opened his presidential campaign here Friday night by introducing a jobs plan that would slash taxes and repeal an array of bureaucratic regulations.

Returning to the state where he launched his political career more than three decades ago, the Republican former House speaker presented himself in sharp contrast to President Obama, whom he derided as a “food stamp president.” Gingrich sounded a hopeful tone as he pledged that a Gingrich administration would reaffirm American exceptionalism.

I don’t trust Mr. Gingrich any farther than I can throw him, and I have bum throwing should.  However unlike the present president Mr. Gingrich at least has an education and somewhat about a room temperature IQ.

Matthew Ygelsias racist, Ygelsias can’t seem to get past this liberal stereotyped notion that racsm on an exclusive domain of whites, in reference to the odious Civil Rights Act of 1964 Yeelsias says:

It was also in the 1960s and 1970s an absolutely vital tool in resolving a social and political crisis of gargantuan proportion. And though it has less practical significance today (it’s not like people are chomping at the bit to open segregated hotels), the Civil Rights Act remains an important tool against racism and an important token of America’s strong commitments to non-discriminatory norms.

Racism is hardly the exclusive domain on the white European, witness the Simpson Jury, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, Pigford and Barack Obama.

What Ygelsias needs to learn that in a free society, a man’s private thoughts and his private property are no concern of the state.

Bill Maher comic, from Jeff Poor Daily Caller:

According to Maher, the cause of the killer tornado is obvious: Global warming.

Sure Bill.   Take your meds next time.

The day the freedom died in Indiana, from NWI Times:

INDIANAPOLIS | Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer’s entry.

“We believe … a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence,” David said. “We also find that allowing resistance unnecessarily escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to all parties involved without preventing the arrest.”

As is stands, the Fourth Amendment is null and void in Indiana.  It shall not stand.

Addendum: (Eric) Neither should Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, says Bill Quick, since he supported Steven H. David, who authored the majority opinion.I think Quick is spot on, here.  Do we really want the man who appointed David, the moron who authored this monster, appointing justices to the SCOTUS? I certainly don’t.

Sudden Jihad Syndrome, from Michelle:

If you listen to the passengers and crew who flew on American Airlines Flight 1561 last weekend, there’s no doubt about what happened on their harrowing trip: A Yemeni man shrieking “Allahu akbar!” at the top of his lungs more than 30 times rushed the cockpit door twice intending to take down the plane and kill everyone on board.

The clammy, sweaty lone male passenger exhibited classic symptoms of what Middle East scholar and author Daniel Pipes has dubbed “Sudden Jihad Syndrome” — a seemingly random outbreak of threatening behavior or violence by a hysterical Muslim adherent who had not previously exhibited signs of Islamic radicalization. It took at least four men to tackle and restrain Rageh Ahmed Mohammed al-Murisi. “There was no question in everybody’s mind that he was going to do something,” passenger Angelina Marty told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Call it Sudden Patriot Syndrome.   The jihadists can not win if Americans continue to step forward to do their duty when drafted into the service of their country by circumstances beyond their control.

Getting Ronney wrong, from Peter Suderman, Reason[sic]:

Romney’s only real contrast between his plan and the president’s plan boiled down to a single, simple distinction: Obama’s overhaul was a federal overhaul; Romney’s was state-based. Romney would have us believe that the same system of mandates and regulations that constitutes an unconscionable imposition on individual liberty at the federal level is somehow a natural and great part of the American way of life at the state level. As for the mandate, well, it was a sensible way to enforce encourage “personal responsibility,” a conservative policy solution designed to fend off the “big-government approach” of making taxpayers cough up for uncompensated care while letting hospital emergency rooms crowd with uninsured.

Evidently Mr. Suderman has never read, or has completely, forgotten the Constitution of the United State:.   From the Bill of Rights:

Article XI

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Article XII

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

All power, unless specifically delegated to the United States, belongs to the several states.  As such, Massachusetts has the power to compel her citizens to purchase health insurance Heck, I never said the founding fathers were wise.  However the federal government has no such power.

Nothing I said should be taken as an endorsement of Mitt Romney.

Taking Dumbo to the woodshed, video:

From: [not so] Nice Deb.

Ramble back, Eric:

SYRACUSE, NY- As this is written I’m being unloaded in Syracuse.  A grey morning, here with a bit of rain.  I may end up going home after this, but I’m hoping not, since it means a shorter check. It’s Friday the 13th, and I’m sitting on dock 13. Hmmm

For twenty years I had a name for Friday the Thirteenth, to wit payday.

More Ramble back:

EXACTLY WHY I DUMPED BLOGGER:  I feel your pain, Ann… but in fairness I’ve been looking at using Blogger as a backup site, automatically linked.

If  Professor Althouse were to stay at Instapundit, if would be a instant improvement.

SYRACUSE, NY– As this is written I’m being unloaded in Syracuse.  A grey morning, here with a bit of rain.  I may end up going home after this, but I’m hoping not, since it means a shorter check. It’s Friday the 13th, and I’m sitting on dock 13. Hmmm…..

• EXACTLY WHY I DUMPED BLOGGER:  I feel your pain, Ann… but in fairness I’ve been looking at using Blogger as a backup site, automatically linked.
• Hey Bennen: I’m calling YOU unamerican. Let’s look at some facts to back this claim. From Wikipedia:
  

  According to national figures from the US Department of Energy, in March 2007 52% of the cost of gasoline went to pay for crude oil, 24% for refining, 15% to taxes, and 9% for distribution and marketing.

  Now, oil company profits are within… as in… they are but a fraction… of that 9%. And lets remember that most of the taxes levied on oil companies are not directly reflected in the pump price as such but are lumped in with the costs, as a cost of doing business. So, taxes take up well over the 15% listed…. nearly double the amount that profits do at the pump price. And yet, you call increasing taxes on oil companies “fair”? You’re unamerican.  Ohh… and let’s not forget that increasing taxes on the oil companies will increase the pump price even further. Which of course is what the Obamites such as yourself want. One more thing: Don’t use Chuckles Schumer, who never saw a tax increase he didn’t like, as a point source and expect me to take you as anything but the leftist/socialist shill you’ve always been. Are we clear on this?

• ABUSE? You betcha! This is abuse of government power of the first order…. and of course you’re NEVER going to see the supposed mainstream press complain about this. The reason? It runs contrary to the Obama myth.
• THE RELATIVE WORTH OF JOE BIDEN: This says it all.
• ENSIGN: Yes, I’ve seen the reports. They strike me as making mountains out of molehills, by a party and a political machine attacking full on, on every front, trying to get seats by any means necessary.  In looking at this, I don’t see a whole bunch of concern about Justice, whatever Pelosi says. Indeed, Pelosi is making all the right noises, but given the lack of trust I have in ANYTHING the woman says when her politics are in play, the whole thing is suspect.
• ABOUT THAT DEBT CEILING: By an overwhelming majority, Americans oppose raising it. Vote accordingly, GOP, or prepare to be replaced. That is all.
• McCain: What is this fascination with McCain, by the left? They keep trying to label McCain as a conservative. Look, let’s make this simple: Bush (either one) was at best a centrist… and McCain lost his presidential bids… both times… because he came down to the left of Bush. Maybe they keep running this play because it’s the only way they can push their agenda…. saying that a “Leading Conservative” backs their view?

How dumb is Dumbo I:

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama used an immigration speech Tuesday to take a jab at News Corporation CEO, Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News Channel.

Obama quoted the CEO, an Australian native, who said “Immigrants have made America great as the world leader in business, science, higher education and innovation.”

“That’s Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News, and an immigrant himself,” Obama said. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with his views, but let’s just say he doesn’t have an Obama bumper sticker on his car.”

Evidently President Fifty Seven State is too stupid to discern the difference between legal and illegal immigration.  Then that is what you would expect from the most uneducated President in US history.

How dumb is Dumbo II, from Jim Geraghty, National Review:

CBS’s Mark Knoller, covering a town hall on the economy with the president this morning, reports: “President Obama blames high unemployment rate on ‘huge layoffs of government workers’ at federal, state and local levels.”

This is completely wrong. Extremely and mind-bogglingly wrong. Epically wrong.

Unlike Obama, Jim backs up his claims with actual numbers.

Binny not so dumb, the late Usama bin Laden:  “I know Dick Chenney, and Joe Biden you are no Dick Chenney” , from Tony Harden, Telegraph (UK):

US officials have revealed that Osama bin Laden’s diaries contain the rather startling conclusion that he didn’t think Vice President Joe Biden was worth bumping off (hat tip: a tweet from my New York colleague Jon Swaine).

According to ProPublica, the Obama administration is briefing that Barack Obama was bin Laden’s the “top target” (no surprise there) while “military chiefs like the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the defense secretary” were also major scalps.

But Joe Biden’s scalp (hair plugs and all)? Apparently, not so much. A counterterrorism official said: “There is a note indicating that the vice president s not an important target because that position has less weight.”

Dumbo will not drill, from Amanda Carey, Daily Caller:

The Obama administration on Wednesday slammed a House bill that would allow oil companies to drill in at least 50 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf and open up areas in the South Atlantic for oil production.

The bill, titled, “Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act,” is expected to pass the House late Wednesday or Thursday. In its “Statement of Administration Policy,” the White House claimed the bill would undermine and circumvent the process by which officials currently deem areas safe to lease for drilling.

I think our moron who is President actually likes the idea of four dollar gasoline.  Do you?

Syracuse,NY– Been a long day. Been a long week, in fact.  I’m here at the Pilot in Syracuse, waiting for an offload scheduled for 9am tomorrow The truck continues to impress me, and other than short miles this week…. which I pretty much expected, given the late start on Monday.  I hope I can get in one more out and back before I’m done. I need the miles.

I’m cooking up some dinner and watching the steady parade of trucks and drivers looking for a spot to park.  Pasta with sauce, some bread. I could use a salad, but what I have here will do.

This is the only truck stop worth mentioning in the area, and it’s always jammed. I was damned lucky to have found a spot at 6pm when I got here. It’s now just after 10pm and the search for a spot to stop and rest is now somewhat panicked.  It’s amazing to me how much we depend on trucks and their drivers to move goods around, but how many communities don’t provide enough in the way of facilities for them. The search for a parking spot often gets hours long. And God help you, should you get to be beyond your federally mandated drive time limts during that search. (Sigh)

• Ron Paul: Moron–This guy requires supervision.
  

  “I think things could have been done somewhat differently,” Paul said this week. “I would suggest the way they got Khalid [Sheikh] Mohammed. We went and cooperated with Pakistan. They arrested him, actually, and turned him over to us, and he’s been in prison. Why can’t we work with the government?”

  Ron Paul is apparently the only person on the planet that doesn’t understand that the Pakistani. government is corrupted. You’d think he’d be better at recognizing corruption having railed against it so often in the past. What’s really sad is that the left now has the ability to label him as the voice of the right and the tea party. He’s not that voice, of course but since when has the tuth ever been a limit to the projections of the left? The tea party had best avoid him co-opting their message.

• Ann Althouse at Glenn’s place:
   

  “IT DOES NOT SERVE THE UNION’S INTERESTS when the union loses some of its power and things don’t seem to get worse for teachers as a result.”

  Update: THe link now doesn’t work. Gee, I wonder why? It seems to have gone the way of anything else that might embarrass the unions with the truth. It does seem to ahve caught the interest of some….