BO’s Shovel

Steve Gilbert, Sweetness & Light, has up, “:Obama To Half Deficit By End Of Term:”

We get a tip off about the mendacity in this New York Times article early on:

The president inherited a deficit for 2009 of about $1.2 trillion, which will rise to more than $1.5 trillion, given initial spending from his recently enacted stimulus package.

We are supposed to believe that Mr. Obama’s plan will only increase the deficit by $500 billion dollars?

After he has squandered trillions in “bailouts” and “stimulus” – and now “free universal healthcare” and “green energy”?

If you don’t want to raad Steve’s entire article, here is the recap;   BO digs hole one trillion dollars deep, Porkulus; demands credit for digging hole; BO announces plan to fill in half of the hole he just dug; demands credit for plan.   That’s all folks.

Charles M. Blow, New York Times, thinks were are all racists ;

[A] CNN poll from last January found that 72 percent of whites thought that blacks overestimated the amount of discrimination against them, while 82 percent of blacks thought that whites underestimated the amount of discrimination against blacks.

What explains this wide discrepancy? One factor could be that most whites harbor a hidden racial bias that many are unaware of and don’t consciously agree with.

To which I agree.   So what!   Some racism is simply rational.   You may call Jesse Jackson a lot of things, but stupid he is not:

“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery-then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”

Show me any person who says he does not consider race in his words, actions or deeds, and I will show you  either a fool or a liar.

The state of race relations may not be what Blow thinks it should be and I agree.   However attacking rational racism is not part of the solution.   Rational people are not going to start acting irrational because some columist is upset or the Attorney General gives a speech.

Mrs. Clinton on advancing human rights issues with the ChiComs, via Gateway Pundit:

“But our pressing on those issues can’t interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis.”

The difference between antropogenic global warming and human rights abuses by China is while athropogenic global warming is an imagined fraud, human rights abuse are all too real.  In other words, Mrs. Clinton has pushed aside helping real people in order to promote Algore’s gigantic fraud.

As indicated by the link, Mrs. Clinton hasn’t always been this dumb.   As few as six months ago, Mrs. Cinton was pssh the Bush administration pursue human rights abuses in China.  Then that was before Mrs. Clinton became a part of Obama administration, where human rights, freedom and democracy are mere words.

The other day, I asked the question:

I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t at or beyond a tipping point  against Obama and the Democrats… even from people who supported their election.

Increasingly, I am forced answer that question with a solid “yes”.  To that point, I note Michelle this morning has a rather extensive list of events happening around the country.

Generally speaking I have no reluctance to rip Steve Benen a new orifice on any subject.  It is usually fairly easy to do, given the target he presents.   On this occasion, I do have to give him a little bit of credit for a story that ran this morning:

JOHN GIBSON AND LOW EXPECTATIONS…. There was an unfortunate incident this week involving a doctored Fox News clip and John Gibson. The original piece reported:

At the end of a long and pointless conversation between two Fox News reporters covering a zoo escape, John Gibson compared Attorney General Eric Holder to a monkey.

A monkey escaped from the Woodland park Zoo in Seattle and despite the fact that authorities are “taking this very seriously,” Julie Banderas and Harris Faulkner were not, cracking jokes about the monkeys’ bright blue scrotum.

At 2:48, they toss to John Gibson who complains that he can’t get away with saying “bright blue scrotum” on the radio then follows that up by saying, “We were talking about Eric Holder today on the radio and his bright blue scrotum.”

Though this quickly made the rounds, Gibson did not say anything of the sort. The video spliced together two unrelated halves of different Gibson sentences. He was justifiably furious, and those who’d published the story ran retractions and apologies.

But what I found interesting about the unpleasant episode was how very easy it was to believe Gibson made the comment. No one, anywhere, heard this story and assumed something was amiss.

An “unfortunate incident” ?  “unpleasant episode”?

Bloody amazing.

One wonders just what in the world Benen would consider to be a blatant lie? At what point does Benen get into ‘full scream’ mode? Would he be screaming if someone had posted a doctored vid of Obama, putting him in a similarly bad light?  I’m willing to bet he’d be on the front lines, as close to the tar bucket as possble, feathers in hand.

Consider what has happened the past when the shoe has been on the other foot, and the Democrats, and their usual mouthpieces have been the target of such fairy tales. If I had time just now, I would be all over Google, to see what his comments were with regards to Dan Rather for example. The comparison seems an obvious one, given the “fake but accurate ” nature of the clip involved.  Accurate, at least insofar as how the left likes to portray Gibson.

That point aside, one does have to give credit to Benen, who clearly has grasped the idea that he cannot avoid the blatantly obvious, at least in this case. But Benen slides right by the point of the whole deal, on his parting shot, perhaps intentionally:

“But I wonder if Gibson might take this opportunity to ponder why so many were willing to believe the unfair misquote in the first place.”

I wonder if Benen has asked similar questions of himself as regards the general perceptions of the intentions of Democrats since the change of power in Washington?  If he’s going to point at the supposedly rep of the right, and such people as Gibson, at what point is he going to apply that rubric to the left?  What, I wonder, does Benen think it is the basis of the left’s bad reputation?

If the question applies to one, why not the other?
I must admit I am impressed that you’re closer than usual, Steve.  Still, no cigar.

When the reprohate who thinks  he is Attorney General called us a Nation of Cowards, he surely wasn’t referingn to Heather McDonald, “So says Eric Holder, but what’s really cowardly is racial dishonesty.”   I gave trying to find a snippet to excerpt.

I add, racism is making an assumption based on race.     As black constitute about thirteen percent of the population, Holder assumes that they should be stopped and questioned by police no more that thirteen percent of the time.    Yet actual crime does not comport to Holder’s assumptions  of racial proportionality.   Yes black are about thirteen percent of the population but  they constitute about  half of all murder victims.   

So it the black population which is disportionally impacted by Holder’s theory of racially proportionate policing.

Welcome, one and all to the most intnse nightly read on the sphere: This is Bitsblog’s Nightly Ramble.

 This is the firehouse edition, for no reason other than I can.

• Destroying the mobile middle class: I’ve said it before; Our ability to be mobile is part of the foundation of our empowerment. Meanwhile the government wants to further tax our mobility, by putting a tax on each mile we drive. The power to tax is the power to destroy. What is it that will get destroyed with this tax, do you suppose?
• Redefining war and crime: One of the few places where James Joyner and I disagree:
  

  The key problem with the Bush policy wasn’t detention but rather the lack of even a modicum of due process.  So long as the Obama administration comes up with a way to let suspects put forth evidence that they’re not who we think they are, we’ll have moved forward.  Sullum isn’t happy:

  Such suspects need not even be tried by military tribunals; they could simply be identified as “unlawful enemy combatants” through a process that is yet to be determined but that will certainly be much less rigorous than a full-blown trial. What will be the basis for deciding which suspects get full due process and which get something far less, which receive determinate prison sentences and which are held indefinitely? If the option is available, it will always be tempting to take the easier route, which could mean that every case related to terrorism will be militarized. Then anyone accused of aiding terrorism can forget about justice as it is usually understood.

  So long as we treat terrorism as a national security problem rather than a criminal justice problem, no one should expect different.

  Sorry, James. No sale.

  If I recall, Clinton treated the war against us as a criminal jusrtice issue, too. A quick check shows there’s still a pit in southern Manhattan providing mute testimony as to how that plan worked out.

• Wow, reality! What a concept!! Along those same lines, a comment from Boortz, today:
  

  This should make you feel really great .. the United Nations is now saying that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb. Quick! Barack! Go over there and talk to these people!

  Looking at that nonsense gives us a fairly clear picture of why such matters are not in fact criminal justice matter.  See, here’s the issue. Reality. Or, rather, the lack of it being applied here by people trying to treat this war on the non-Islamic world, as a crimnial justice problem.

  There’s something else, here, too, that I find disturbing. Have a look again at the post I put up this monring which was partially about the military training being run in Iowa. Treating acts of war as a criminal justice issue, blurs the lines of when and where military can be utilized, doesn’t it?

• ZOMBIES SIGHTED: Speaking of of OTB, the caption contest there saw YetAnotherJohn grabbing third place while the Boss got an honorable mention.
• ZOMBIES READING? I wonder if they’ve been reading this stuff. Looks like they’re re-writing “Steal This Book”.  I admit being a little uneasy about that.
•  McCain Wins, press loses, sorta: Vicki Iseman’s Lawyer is Claiming Victory in the lawsuit over the story spread about her and John McCain. Note, please, that this is likley the only notice that will ever be made of it. The Dinosaur media, after all, is unlikely to file reports about their own smear tactics on McCain.
• Cowards! You’re not giving me any targets to shoot at!  Look, Victor,  and for that matter, Jonah… what really went down here is Holder is upset because now that he’s got the power of government to enforce his views, he hasn’t got any active lawsuits to push those views. he knows that once the conversation starts again, there will be stuff out there he can procecute. Bottom line;  He’s attempting to flush some game, so he can be the victorious hunter.  And is it any shock that the Huff and Puff tried to prime that pump with a bit of fakery? Don’t tell me Holder didn’t know what he was doing.

Kelly Groucutt’s official fan site has the following announcement up:

It is with great sadness that I have to inform the fans that Kelly Groucutt died on the afternoon of 19th February 2009 of a heart attack.

(Sigh)

How does a mother of fourteen on welfare afford plastic surgery and in vitro ftertiliation, Celebrity Cafe:

The media has already been speculating how Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets and six kids from a previous in vitro, has been able to afford both plastic surgery and in vitro fertilization off of food stamps and disability for 3 of her older children. Apparently more is going on behind closed doors at the Suleman household than was previously thought..

Something strange is going on here

I got a note from John Hawkins in my feedback last night.  Apparently, John is managed to score an interview with professor Walter Williams.  Longtime readers will know that I have an ocean of respect for the professor .

Topics of the interview included the stimulus of course, the housing crisis bailouts the debt and the “right” to a “living wage”.  It’s worth the read.

As I said earlier this morning:

 I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t at or beyond a tipping point  against Obama and the Democrats… even from people who supported their election. The amazing part is,  whereas it took Bill Clinton quite literally years to get to this point,   we’re only 30 days into the Obama presidency.  We still have 1470 days, more or less, to go.

So along comes Billy Beck, this morning, who notes something that I’ve been noting with some unease, and something Glenn Beck (No, no relation AFAIK) …has been mentioning the last day or so:

“Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.”

(Carroll, Iowa Daily Times Herald)

Okay, if that doesn’t make your skin crawl, then why not?

Indeed, why not?

I’ll tell you, folks…  This stuff does tend to confirm my read about the anger that’s welling up against the left… including those in our current government, since it’s only fear of exactly that anger that would prompt such training. They feel the need to protect themselves and their agenda. Honestly, I can’t recall ever having been so worried about being vindicated before.

What is prompting that anger?

Joan Swirsky nails it, in her article, “Obama’s Revenge”, and here’s a  few snips of that:

In the less-than four weeks of his presidency, the new president has taken volumes from the Marxian handbook, which dictates that the stupid masses be blitzed with an overload of information, hollow press conferences, appointments, dismantling of formerly effective national-security programs, et al., in order to set the stage for a massive, Soviet-style takeover of our government, including a civilian national security force that Obama has said should be “just as powerful, strong and well-funded as the U.S. military.” Echoes of Nazi Germany in 1938, anyone?

—

According to writer Kyle-Anne Shrive, in Obama’s ascendance:

“We have yet to see a more perfect collision of Murphy’s Law with the Peter Principle. In only three weeks’ time, [he] has signaled to every terrorist on the planet that we are a sorry, groveling, ashamed nation ready to come to the diplomatic confessional. He is closing Gitmo within one year, has suspended trials there, and dismissed the charges against the U.S.S. Cole plotter. [He] has just put our money where his mouth is and is using $20.3 million to bring in Palestinian refugees from Gaza…[he] had the gall to pronounce the so-called economic stimulus bill absolutely free of `earmarks’ and `make-do work’…but according to the Congressional Budget Office [this bill] will do worse to our overall economy than no government action whatsoever.”

And Obama has done all this with the predictable double-speak that characterizes malevolent intention, i.e., touting transparency while concealing everything, speaking of integrity while appointing crooks and incompetents riddled with conflicts-of-interest, supporting energy independence while killing off-shore and domestic oil-drilling and nuclear power, and feigning optimism while he speaks of impending “catastrophe” in order to push through a pork-laden, trillion-dollar-plus Stimulus plan that rewards the corrupt voter-fraud organization Acorn with billions and unions with discriminatory union-only labor agreements, paves the way for socialized medicine, and threatens to take away the most cherished rights of We The People.

As blogger Eric Gurr has said: “We still talk about the health care crisis, the environmental crisis, the oil crisis, the banking crisis. Let me tell you my friends you are about to learn the meaning of the only crisis that matters, the survival crisis.”

Correct. 

And now, just now, I note market futures are tanking. When the market opens this morning, we’re going to see the numbers falling like stones.  Housing prices have fallen, so have stock prices, which affects people’s savings and retirement. Have you guys even noticed what’s been happening t0 your retirement accounts? I’m sure you can follow the bloodbath on Drudge, today.

Here it is, people: 

The biggest source of problem for those seeking socialism here in the US,and the destruction of the US as a free nation , is a strong and empowered middle class.  If the object is to eliminate the middle class’s empowerment, I can’t think of a more effective way to go than that which Obama has obviously chosen, or had chosen for him. With the housing problem, the banking problem, and the jobs issues going the way they’re going, the middle class will be right where the socialists want them; dependant on government in a way we never have been before. And as people figure this stuff out, they’re going to react. Indeed, ARE reacting already, as we’ve noted here. 

Oh, and by the way.. is there any doubt.. any doubt left in your mind, about why Democrats are trying to use government to shut Limbaugh and Hannity up? And Blogs, and …(Ahem)

Is the purpose of these training runs Billy speaks of,  becoming a bit clearer to you now?

“But using troops on American citizens is unconstitutional!”

Yeah? And?

-=-

ADDENDUM:  It’s been pointed out to me via Email, (and correctly) that this kind of training run has occurred for years.  One correspondant described such action as he had been involved with in the 70’s.  And that’s quite true, there have been such training programs previously. As true as that is, however, I will say it does seem to stretch credibility just a bit, that this is simply another case of bad optics surrounding the recent power shift in Washington.

Addendum II:  Both Michelle Malkin and Bruce McQuain point to an incident that should tell you what we’re in for

Christopher Hitchens, fool err hero.   Well both.    A hero is person who risks his life for a noble cause.  Defacing a Nazi sign is a smal but albeit  noble cause.   Doing so in Syria is done at the risk of your life.    Ace has the details from the front lines, [language warning] here.

So Hitchens immediately takes out a pen and writes “No, no, f*** You” on the poster. I don’t know if he’d digested the story and decided to f*** with them anyway, or else he was just reacting to the modified swastika on the poster.Now, the Syrian Nazis are not popular and neighborhoods have tried to get their posters taken down. But then they threaten people and cause problems.[*’s inserted]

Was it Hitch’s true moral fiber or just the Bloody Mary’s?   Who knows.    Well done Mr. Hitchens.

On the morning of February 17th,I was standing in line getting coffee at the little cafeteria at  my day gig. Behind me were two guys that had obviously been in heated discussion for some time. I don’t know either of them. I can’t vouch for the conversation being word for word, but here it is from my memory:

So, let me understand this. Obama’s going to Denver, today… several days after the bill he was so much in a hurry to sign that none of Congress could actually take the time to read it, was placed on his desk. Why did he wait all that time after the vote? So he could vacation?

Well, no, so he could fly out to Denver, I guess.

Why Denver?

So that he could sign it in a plant that makes Solar panels. He wants to be seen as a ‘green’ president.

But what does it take to make this happen? How’s he getting there?

Well, he’s got to fly Air Force One out to Denver.

Doesn’t that mean he’s flying at least four planes? Air Force One, plus the military escort, PLUS a second plane for a decoy, and likely more escorts for the decoy?

I guess so, why?

How much fuel does that take?

Oh, I heard around 20,000 gallons.

For Air Force One.

Right.

Not for the others.

Yes.

And if you count the other planes, it comes close on 50,000 gallons of fuel, anyway.

(Suspiciously) Sounds about right.

So, in one day, he’s going to use up more fuel than the average American uses in 20 years?

This is green?

There was a silence at that point that defies description.  You could almost feel them ‘looking daggers’ at each other. I didn’t dare turnaround for fear of starting something.  Certainly, I could have added to the conversation.  I rather get the feeling, however, that I wouldn’t be making any friends, either way.  Besides, the guy in bold was doing just fine, thank you.  I got my cuppa, and I split. Once I got out of there,  I had a grim but satisfied smile on my face for the rest of the day.

I should say up front I’m not sure on the fuel figures, though in my quick and dirty investigation of fuel consumption for Air Force One itself, the estimates don’t seem far out of line, at first glance. The consensus seems to be the thing burns on its own, 6000 gallons per hour.  On that basis, the figures discussed in the conversation I overheard would seem to be quite a bit low, if anything.

I should also say I don’t know their politics, and frankly I don’t care. I will say, though, that both of them sounded a bit better informed on such matters than Joe Sixpack generally is. In retrospect, I wish I’d had time to get to know them; they would have made good source material for future columns.

Perhaps it is my cynical side speaking, but I’m amazed that the conversation even took place. Look, I admit it; there’s a part of me convinced that the American public as a whole tends to ignore the implications of political happenings. There’s certainly enough on the recent record to support that cynicism.

This conversation, though, is encouraging because it shows me things moving in the opposite direction.   Given that, I begin to wonder if this is the only place that the optics of this thing are raising questions about Obama. It seems to me the American public knows when it’s being showboated, and history shows us that eventually that perception turns to overt mistrust. I certainly heard mistrust building in the one gent’s voice, and an increasing inability, or perhaps unwillingness to defend Obama from the other.

I suspect that the conversation wouldn’t be taking place without all the other issues that currently surround Obama and his people, issues that of themselves cast questions on this administration, and the Democrats in general. The American voter, without saying as much, has been made sensitive to the idea that there are some serious questions surrounding Obama, and the Democrats. If the conversation I overheard is of any indication, those questions are starting to be asked in a fashion they’ve seldom been asked before, particularly this early on in a presidency, and by a wider swath of people and political branding than has been seen in a generation or more. These people are PISSED, and they’re starting to show it.

The cause of these questions being asked so seriously is perhaps, reflective of some concern about Obama’s first consequential act as President being the spending of more money than has ever been spent at one time previously. Those questions get amplified still further when it started leaking out most of the bill isn’t stimulation, but rather takes on the appearance of political payoffs to groups that helped Barack Obama get elected.

The very place he chose for the signing to take place is perhaps a good indication of the political payoff mentality. Denver, after all, being the place of the convention, and all that suggests. The connection if one spends any time thinking about it, doesn’t look all that good.

That the President’s push for a ‘bipartisan’ image isn’t going over all that well, either, also isn’t helping. As an example, Judd Gregg’s withdrawal at Commerce didn’t help that effort. Then again, Obama shot himself in the foot when he unconstitutionally pulled the Census away from the Commerce Department, which would have, minus that action from Obama, been run by a Republican… even a moderate one… had Gregg stayed on, didn’t help the optics, either.

Add to all this the pile of angry reactions I posted in the Ramble last night:

There was a near riot  at the Chicago Board of Trade today. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. (BBCT Billy) . The lynch mobs are already forming; Atlas is shrugging. Even High School kids know we’re being lied to.

In looking at all of this, I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t at or beyond a tipping point  against Obama and the Democrats… even from people who supported their election. The amazing part is,  whereas it took Bill Clinton quite literally years to get to this point,   we’re only 30 days into the Obama presidency.  We still have 1470 days, more or less, to go.  Frankly, it’s becoming a question of him lasting quite that long.

And what of the mid-terms?

Addendum:  Michelle Malkin has quite a bit on the number of visual protests against Obama across this country.

From the morning mailbag:

Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, “I don’t understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?”

The professor replied, “I don’t have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I’ll be glad to explain it to you.” The student agreed.

At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor’s house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool.

They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, “First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can.” The student did as he was instructed.

The professor then continued, “Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it.” The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.

The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.

The confused student asked, “Excuse me, but why are we doing this?”

The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper.

The student didn’t think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.

However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad. The student finally replied, “All we’re doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you’ll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!”

The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, “Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill.”

Yesterday I blogged about the  reprobate Eric Holder calling the United States a “nation of cowards.”   Today Linda Chavez both takes up Holder’s challenge to discuss race in America and returns Holder’s favor, by calling him a coward,  Commentary: 

Eric Holder could have talked about the relationship between family breakdown and crime. He could have talked about why it is that young black men aged 14-24 represent only 1 percent of the U.S. population but committed almost 28 percent of the nation’s homicides in 2005, according to his own department’s statistics. He could have talked about what it means to have fatherless teenage boys grow up in neighborhoods where your chances of being killed are greater than they were on the streets of Baghdad at the height of the insurgency. He could have talked about why it is that schools systems presided over by black superintendents in cities governed by black elected officials produce black high-school graduates who read at the eighth-grade level. He could have talked about why it is that illegal Mexican immigrants with a sixth grade education are more likely to be employed in a steady job than young black men with a high-school education.

Now that would have taken some courage

Personally I don’t  attribute the entire black socioeconomic disparity to a pathologically defective black culture, just most of it.    Blacks are saddled with a culture that does not imbrue them with sufficient human capital.   Note that the only black ever to elected President was largely raised by his white grandparents.