Thursday, May 10, 2012

Political Digest for May 10, 2012

The Old Jarhead Blog: Bringing you news and information the MSM is too busy covering American Idol, celebrity affairs and sensational missing person cases to cover. Please forward to friends who need to be informed.

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on. In some cases I post things sent to me by readers I might not have posted on my own, to get ideas circulating.

Mourdock defeats Sen. Lugar in Indiana Republican Primary
Excerpt: Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Indiana, ending the career of the longest-serving Republican senator and putting the seat in play for Democrats in the fall. (I’m not a big Lugar fan, but I hope someone will pick up his efforts to stop the spread of nukes to countries like Iran, which he was criticized for working with Democrats on. And I hope Mourdock can win in November. If not, the Tea Party will once again have proven to be Harry Reid’s best friend, as when they helped reelect him in 2010 by putting up the weakest republican. ~Bob.)

Interesting: Why Dick Lugar lost. By Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake
Excerpt: Lugar lost — and lost badly — for a number of reasons, the vast majority of which had nothing to do with the relative tea party-ness of his opponent. At its heart, Lugar’s defeat was attributable to the fact that he broke the political golden rule: Never lose touch with the people who elected you. (This is why as a state senator, I used to go to about 400 functions a year, from church fairs, to policemen’s balls to installations of officers at vets groups. One weekend I counted 17, plus held office hours Saturday morning. It was why I help a 3-1 Democrat district—and why I burned out doing it. ~Bob.)

Tom Barrett wins Wisconsin recall primary
Excerpt: Barrett was not the preferred candidate of the public employee unions who sparked the recall. That was former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. But Barrett benefited from higher name recognition and political establishment support. … If Barrett wins it will be the third successful gubernatorial recall in history. It’s also Barrett’s third try at the governor’s mansion. Turnout for Walker in the perfunctory GOP primary was high, a sign of Republican enthusiasm.

Keith Judd, Texas Inmate, Gets 40 Percent Of Votes Against Obama
Excerpt: Just how unpopular is President Barack Obama in some parts of the country? Enough that a man in prison in Texas is getting 4 out of 10 votes in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary. The inmate, Keith Judd, is serving time at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999.

Federal prisoner earns votes against Obama in West Virginia primary
Excerpt: In the Democratic primary there, 4 out of 10 cast votes for Keith Judd, a prisoner in Texas serving time a for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999. Obama earned 59 percent of the vote. Judd received 41 percent. 9Hard to believe. Imagine—59% of Democrats there still prefer Obama to a felon. What were they thinking? ~Bob.)

Excerpt: In this case, Harvard Law School chose to help correct historical injustices against the Cherokees by hiring a descendant of one of the perpetrators to play their token Injun.

Dinosaur flatulence contributed to greenhouse effect, study finds
I blame George Bush. ~Bob

See Joe Biden Make The ‘Sign Of The Cross’ In Front Of…1,600 Conservative Rabbis

Excerpt: Failure to honour its financial commitments to Independent Power Producers (IPP) has led to the first-ever sovereign default by the government in Pakistan’s history.
The default on sovereign guarantees – assurances the government provides to foreign investors – may not only unnerve the financial markets, but also downgrade the government’s creditworthiness, making it more expensive to borrow money.

Obama Now Raffling Off “Shout-Outs” For Campaign Donations…How very presidential of him.
Excerpt: All you need are five donations by Thursday at midnight to be automatically entered, and it could be your mom who has an extra-special Mother’s Day this year. (My mom's dead. But if alive, she wouldn't take the call. ~Bob.)

Rescue Workers Train for Hybrid Hazards
Excerpt: The list of required knowledge for first responders gets longer all the time. Now firefighters are being alerted to potential danger during rescue procedures involving hybrid or electric vehicles.

Title IX competes with true gender equality By Doug Robinson
Excerpt: But that is exactly what is happening in collegiate sports, except now it's the men who are being denied opportunities and subjected to discrimination.

Al Qaeda's bomb-makers evolve, adapt and continue to plot.
Excerpt: Three months before he was killed by a US drone strike, Fahd al Quso, one of al Qaeda's top operatives in Yemen, spoke at length to a local journalist. He was asked why al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had stopped plotting against the United States. Was it because all efforts were devoted to an internal project? "The war didn't end between us and our enemies. Wait for what is coming," al Quso replied.

The Battle Of Athens (Tennessee)
Excerpt: The Battle of Athens was much more than an extended gunfight between small-town political factions. Historian Dan Daley wrote, “It was a violent but decisive clash of two social and political cultures, between the past and the future of rural, state, and ultimately the federal govern­ment, and a reconfirmation of the deeply ingrained ideal that Americans can assert themselves against tyranny, even when it was taking place in their own backyard.” (This is an interesting look at a bit of American history I’d never heard before. I suspect that if it happened today, though, the National Guard would be on the scene within an hour. Not to mention the FBI, Homeland Security, BATFE, and a dozen other federal agencies. Ron P. This type of thing, in fact much worse, happened throughout the South during "reconstruction," as armed white Democrat KKK members murdered and intimidated the freedmen to keep them from voting for Republicans. I recommend, The Bloody Shirt: Terror After the Civil War By Stephen Budiansky.
 ~Bob.)

Would-Be Bomber Was Informant, New Details Suggest
Excerpt: New details about a foiled terror plot in Yemen suggested the would-be suicide bomber was an informant who funneled vital information to the U.S., a scenario that would represent a successful infiltration of terrorism's inner circles. The would-be bomber is under the control of a foreign government but isn't being held in detention, according to new details provided by officials briefed on the matter. (Gee, thanks for letting the bad guys know in the press. ~Bob.)

Russia Returns Iran's Advancement Payment after Breaching S-300 Contract
Excerpt: A senior Iranian official announced on Tuesday that Moscow has
returned Iran's advancement payment along with its interest fees after it
refused to deliver S-300 air-defense systems to Iran in compliance with the
two countries' contract.

Leftist Race-Baiters. By Walter Williams
Excerpt: MSNBC's Chris Matthews, in a recent debate with former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, called the Republican Party the "grand wizard crowd." Grand wizard is the title given to the leader of the Ku Klux Klan. It is truly misinformed to call Republicans the party of the Klan. Throughout our history, most Klansmen and most racists have been Democrats.

Security at pro-choice White House counts unborn children
Excerpt: The pro-choice Obama White House requires pregnant visitors to count their unborn child as a person for tours of the executive mansion. An email explaining the policy was sent by Ellie Schafer, director of the White House’s visitors office, and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. In it, she tells a congressional staffer that the White House has “received a number of calls regarding how to enter security information for a baby that has not yet been born.” (Like the Holder Justice Dept requires photo ID to go in there, while he sues any State or Local Agency that requires it for voting. -DH)
Excerpt: The latest al-Qaeda bomb plot targeting U.S. aircraft was unraveled from inside the terrorist group by operatives working on behalf of the CIA and its counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, said U.S. and Middle Eastern officials. (Sporting of us to tell them how we did it, help them next time. ~Bob.)

International sting operation brought down underwear bomb plot
Excerpt: Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to convince the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen to give him a new kind of non-metallic bomb that the militants were designing to easily pass through airport security. But the double agent instead arranged to deliver the explosive device to U.S. and other intelligence authorities waiting in another country, officials said Tuesday. The agent is now safely outside Yemen and is being debriefed. (Who needs a WikiLeaks when all that’s necessary is to read the LA Times? Ron P.)

Sen. Bingaman ‘consultant’ was lobbyist
Excerpt: A lobbyist for a generic drug company was introduced as a special consultant to Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) during negotiations on patent law, according to others who attended the meeting. The incident took place last week when pharmaceutical-industry representatives were invited to Bingaman’s offices to voice their objections to his proposal to expand market access for generic drug companies.

Dem plan: Throw it all at Romney, see what sticks
Excerpt: President Barack Obama's campaign is trying an early "all of the above" strategy against Republican Mitt Romney, criticizing his character, wealth and policy positions in broadsides that may become more focused as the fall election nears.

Beyond Austerity. By Richard A. Epstein
Excerpt: Grim is the right word to describe the latest economic news from both the European Union and the United States. Throughout the European Union, austerity programs have failed both politically and economically. In Spain, unemployment rates have soared above 24 percent. The Dutch government is on the edge of collapse because of the popular and political unwillingness to accept the austerity program proposed by its conservative government. Romania is not far behind. Greece, Italy, and Portugal remain in perilous condition.
Green Jobs Report: Less Than Meets the Eye
Excerpt: Cheerleaders of the president's green energy campaign emphasize a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report as evidence of the growth of green jobs. Indeed, the report counts 3.1 million green jobs, 2.2 million of which are in the private sector. However, the BLS study is disingenuous in its conclusions by taking advantage of an overly broad definition of "green jobs," says David Kreutzer, the research fellow in energy economics and climate change at the Heritage Foundation. By defining "green goods and services" as those "produced by an establishment that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources," the 3.1-million figure is vague enough to include such occupations as trash collectors, bus drivers and Salvation Army employees.

Excerpt: In a series of papers for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Christopher Conover and Jerry Ellig provide evidence to suggest that “the involvement of both White House and high-ranking agency staff” suggests that “the administration likely got the [ObamaCare] rules it wanted written.” To do this, it overrode the normal checks and balances used to ensure that federal regulations impose the smallest possible burden on the private sector. Rather than posting required regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) with interim rules and allowing time for analysis and comment, the White House and its agency heads dictated the rules that would be written, curbed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review function, and then simply declared that the interim rules were final.

Socialist France
Excerpt: There won't be enough French millionaires to tax at his proposed 75% rate to finance a government that already controls 56% of French GDP. Unlike Americans, French citizens can escape their national tax rates if they move elsewhere, so expect another wave of French tax migrants to London. France already has one of the highest overall tax burdens but continues to bleed red ink.

Extremism in Defense of the Welfare State. By Mona Charen
Excerpt: That's the object lesson for us. Here, President Obama and the Democratic Party are promising Americans more of this fool's gold — limitless government benefits with costs imposed on someone else ("the rich" or future generations). It's an engraved invitation to Athens.

Scytl: Voter Fraud Facts and Fiction. By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: Before conservatives go all Michael Moore-moonbatty, let's calm down and separate voter fraud facts from fiction. There's no time to waste worrying about manufactured scares. And there are plenty of legitimate threats to electoral integrity without having to inflate or concoct them.

Gowdy to DOJ: Won’t give us ‘Fast and Furious’ docs? We’re docking your pay!
Excerpt: A motion South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy introduced this week to cut Department of Justice employees’ salaries by $1 million passed the U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote — a sign of overwhelming support — on Tuesday.

America and the Value of 'Earned Success.' By Arthur C. Brooks
Excerpt: Even as a foreigner, I had the same lifetime work status as a clerk at the water department. Nobody ever left these jobs, except with lavish disability packages. (One colleague who injured his lips moonlighting at a dance-hall gig ended up spending the next 20 years collecting a full salary to stay home.)

BamCare’s war on women: Health hazard we can’t ignore. By Sally Pipes
Excerpt: President Obama leads Mitt Romney among women — for now. That will change if voters focus on what the ObamaCare law does to their health care. Simply put, the president broke a host of promises about an issue of particular concern to female voters.

The Ghastly Hellhole of Camp 14. By Jeff Jacoby
Excerpt: Shin Dong-hyuk grew up in North Korea's Camp 14, one of the monstrous slave-labor prison complexes in which the world's most tyrannical regime has crushed hundreds of thousands of its citizens, working them to death in conditions of excruciating brutality and degradation. Though the North Korean concentration camps have lasted far longer than their Soviet or Nazi counterparts did, Shin is the first person born and raised in one of them to have successfully escaped abroad. (Socialism always, always ends in repression. But the fairy-dust utopians cannot learn. ~Bob

Are You Smarter Than an American? Native-Born Citizens Fail Civics Test
Scary. ~Bob

"Head Start" an Abysmal Failure for Kids, a Spectacular Success for Teachers. By Mike Shedlock
Excerpt: For more than four decades, Miami-Dade County officials have managed Head Start, the storied preschool program for children from low-income families. But the county now wants out — and “generous” salaries are partly to blame. On average, Miami-Dade paid its Head Start teachers $76,860 in salary and fringe benefits in 2011, county records show. That’s about 90 percent higher than the second highest-paying Head Start provider in the county, Catholic Charities, which paid its teachers an average of $40,418 in salary and benefits.

This Year We Choose the Best of the Least
Excerpt: People who ‘rise to the occasion’ are generally no different than the people from whom they emerge. If the people are focused on good character, sound leadership, selfless service, a sense of personal responsibility for the good of the nation, an understanding of good and responsible nationalistic spirit, then those who are chosen to represent them will display these qualities.

Club for Growth launches $1M ad buy against Dewhurst in Texas
 Excerpt: Fresh off its big defeat of Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the fiscally conservative Club for Growth is pivoting to Texas's open Senate race, launching a $1 million ad buy against Texas Lieutenant Gov. David Dewhurst (R). The group is backing former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R), a Tea Party favorite, in the race.

She’s the blogger who was fired for criticizing “Black studies” programs. ~Bob. Excerpt: I think it's important to point that out, that Naomi Schaefer Riley is married to Jason Riley, the bespectacled and soft-spoken opinion writer at the Wall Street Journal. Most of the discussion of Schaefer Riley is focusing on the left's intolerance of different opinion. … Critics attacked Schaeffer Riley as a "racist" who was exploiting her "white privilege."

In Britain, Pakistani/Muslim Child Sexual Abuse Gang Claims Up To Fifty Victims; Police Failed To Investigate For Fear of Being Branded "Racist"
The real “War on Women.” ~Bob. Excerpt: "This is an absolute scandal. They were petrified of being called racist and so reverted to the default of political correctness," she said. "They had a greater fear of being perceived in that light than in dealing with the issues in front of them."

Wife hits husband with SUV after argument over recalls
Excerpt: A Chippewa Falls man who repeatedly tried to block his estranged wife from driving to the polls Tuesday was hospitalized with head, neck and back injuries when she struck him with her sport utility vehicle. Jeffrey Radle, a Gov. Scott Walker supporter, was on foot. Amanda Radle, a recall proponent, was in a Dodge Durango.

The Next Big Problem For Energy Producers
Excerpt: The energy sector is about to see a wave of bankruptcies. Natural gas prices have already cratered. That’s crushed the share prices of many natural gas producers. But so far, they’ve been able to stay solvent… thanks to “natural gas liquids.”

Fox News, 'America's Poison'?
Excerpt: Bill Keller, recently the paper's executive editor, devoted his latest column to Fox News with the headline "Murdoch's Pride Is America's Poison." The man who edited The New York Times is blunt: "I would argue that — at least for Americans — Fox News is Murdoch's most toxic legacy." If that's not ridiculous enough, try this: He claims the problem is not that Fox is conservative, but because ... wait for it ... Fox pretends to be objective instead of openly admitting it's partisan. Unlike, say, The New York Times. (I don’t watch a lot of TV news other than local. But, I get that local news from either the Boston ABC affiliate or the Boston Fox affiliate. They both do a fair job of covering the local stuff. For national news, I prefer Fox. But, I find the “news talk” shows almost as empty on Fox as they are on ABC. I don’t like trying to make sense of people shouting at each other—that’s also why I won’t watch MSNBC at all. It’s the unremitting spin every “talking head” tries to put on the news that bothers me. I think it is good to listen to the other side’s points; sometimes, I even agree with them. I want news that tells us what happened, not what to think about it. The problem with the NYT—and all their spiritual twins in other cities, whether print or broadcast—is every editor seems to think he’s a “talking head” and should do his part to spin the news to support his point of view instead of just bringing us the news raw. We’re smart enough to figure out what to think about it, aren’t we? Ron P.)

Excerpt: gay advocacy group is trying to rally sympathizers to help shift the Democrats’ trouble-plagued convention from North Carolina to another state. The group, Gay Marriage USA, launched a petition on change.org immediately after the state’s voters overwhelmingly decided May 8 to define marriage as a heterosexual institution.

About those egghead intellectuals...
This PJTV Video: "Uncommon Knowledge: Thomas Sowell on the Vulgar Pride of Intellectuals" is an extremely interesting dissection of how and why high class intellectuals (eggheads?) can be so wrong so often and yet be so influential in society and so cocksure of their superiority. It's a lengthy discussion, but listening to even part of it is really enlightening. Sowell refers a couple of times to what happened in Viet Nam as an example of the "best and brightest" making a mess of things. I have to say that I have met a number of high level intellectuals in my life, people with multiple degrees and IQs 20+ points higher than mine, and yet there seemed to be a negative correlation between IQ and common sense. I have also known a very few geniuses who do have common sense, and it's great to know such people. But they are a small minority. --Del

So, back to the position he adopted in 1996, right? I gather that he had to make this “gutsy call,” as gay donations were drying up. It’s the same position held by Dick Chaney, I believe. I, personally, have zero concerns about gay marriage, as my marriage is strong enough that if a gay couple next door gets married, it won’t affect us a bit. Now can we get back to the economy and the deficit? And the threat that nuclear terrorism will make marriage moot? ~Bob.

Veteran shoots intruder with gun carried during Korean War
Grand Torino! ~Bob. Excerpt: An 84-year-old western Pennsylvania man and Korean War vet shot and wounded a home invasion suspect, and then forgave the man's family when they came to apologize.
Barack Obama: President of Replicants
Excerpt: In reality, however, women have feelings, spirits, complexities, and inborn American yearnings for self-determination. Turning women into cookie cutter images doesn’t work any better now than it did in the days when Communism in the USSR attempted the homogenization of the human soul and mind. Communism leads to tragedy and demise, cruelty, and bitterness, recently reflected in the cries from Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng for asylum in America. (This is an interesting way to look at it. While I agree with many of he author's points, I suspect they only apply in full among conservative women. Liberal women, not so much. Ron P.)

Presidential Narcissism: Obama and Clinton — brothers beneath the skin. By Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: There is a lot that is disturbing about Clinton’s commentary — and about the fact that such an embarrassment was not deleted by the Obama campaign. Clinton offers unintended self-incrimination as to why in the 1990s he did not order the capture of bin Laden when it might well have been in his power to do so — was it fear of something “horrible” that might have happened to his fortunes rather than to our troops? And, of course, such crass politicization of national security and the war on terror is exactly what Barack Obama accused the two Clintons of in the 2008 Democratic primaries.

Unprecedented: Top DOJ Officials Were Obama Bundlers. By Peter Schweizer & Wynton Hall
Excerpt: Four of the top officials at the Department of Justice were all big money fundraisers for President Obama’s 2008 campaign with strong ties to Wall Street—the very entity the Obama Administration has said must be criminally prosecuted for bringing about the biggest financial crisis in U.S. history.

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