Political Digest for November 10, 2010

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.

Happy Birthday, Marines!
November 10, 2010, is the 235th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps. It was the highest privilege of my life to wear the same uniform you did and to associate with you, and I cherish the title.

No external enemy ever defeated Marines. So far, no internal enemy has, but there is another attempt underway by the nation’s internal enemies to reduce and eventually eliminate the Corps. They know instinctively that American freedom cannot be extinguished as long as the Corps exists, and in their world view, freedom is an irresponsible obstacle to the better people (that would be them) running an all-powerful state that takes care of lesser folk. Our fight to preserve our Corps is a fight to preserve America.

Sonnet: The Corps
Robert A. Hall

Two hundred years and more we’ve formed a wall
Of living flesh against an evil world,
And sanctified the places where we fall
With blood and bone, for Freedom’s Flag unfurled.
‘Tis not our part to choose the clime or place,
‘Tis not our way the summons to reject,
To let our people down would bring disgrace,
But duty done has earned the world’s respect.

We know, who serve in Freedom’s cherished cause,
That there are horrors far, far worse than war,
And so, obedient to ancient laws,
We formed a band of brothers called The Corps,
For it we’ve given all there is to give,
And we will claim the title while we live.

Published in Leatherneck.

Coexist
http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/11/coexist.html
Be funny if not true.

Taxes
http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/11/taxes.html
Funny though true.

Unexplained Missile Launched Off LA
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/mystery-missile-lights-up-los-angeles-skies/19709162?icid=main%7Cie8t%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C183117
Excerpt: An unexplained missile shot across the sky off the coast of Los Angeles and was caught on video by a CBS News traffic helicopter during Monday night's rush hour. Today, the missile is still a mystery. A Navy spokesman told CBS affiliate KFMB that it was not theirs, and so far the Pentagon has not been able to explain it either. The missile was reportedly about 35 miles west of L.A. and just north of Catalina Island. NBC's Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, reports that a missile launch would not have been planned so close to a major city, and at the very least, residents would have been warned a test was imminent. A senior Pentagon official told him, "This is bizarre." Watch the dramatic video below: (That was a BIG missile, not a Tomahawk cruise missile, but an IRBM or ICBM. Rehearsal that went one step too far? Proof of ability to enforce blackmail? Fire control error on one of our own subs? At 35 miles off shore, if hostile, there'd be no warning at all. Too many possibilities, and none of them good. Ron P.)

The "Gridlock" Bogeyman - Thomas Sowell
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/11/09/the_gridlock_bogeyman
Excerpt: Whenever the party that controls the White House does not also control Capitol Hill, political pundits worry that there will be "gridlock" in Washington, so that the government cannot solve the nation's problems. Almost never is that fear based on what actually happens when there is divided government, compared to what happens when one party has a monopoly of both legislative and executive branches. The last time the federal government had a budget surplus, instead of its usual deficits, there was divided government. That was when the Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, where all spending bills originate, and Bill Clinton was in the White House. The media called it "the Clinton surplus." By the same token, some of the worst laws ever passed were passed when one party had overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as being led by their own President of the United States. ObamaCare is a product of the kind of arrogance that so much power breeds. It was the same story back in the famous "first hundred days" of the New Deal in 1933. The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 clamped down on the American economy the kind of pervasive government control seldom seen outside of totalitarian countries. It was the ObamaCare of its time, but covering industries right down to local dry cleaners. One man was sent to jail for charging less than the government-specified price for pressing a suit of clothes. This typified the mindset of the New Deal…. The seductive notion that some Big Daddy in Washington can solve our problems for us-- whether healing the sick, preventing poverty or "growing the economy"-- is encouraged by politicians for obvious reasons, and the media echo the idea. Both in Washington and in the media, there is virtually zero interest in comparing what actually happens when the federal government intervenes in the economy and when it does not.

Big, evil industries funded…which party?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/big-evil-industries-fundedwhich-party-106891623.html
Excerpt: Now that election 2010 is over, let’s go back over to OpenSecrets and look at which evil corporations stole our democracy and bought Congress for the Republicans — the RepubliCorp! First suspect: the military-industrial complex! Defense Contractors: 55% Democrat, 44% Republican ($18 million) Oh, really? Well, then, it must have been Wall Street! That’s it: Wall Street bought Congress for the GOP! Securities & Investment: 53% Democrat, 46% Republican ($8.2 million) Oh. Well, even if Wall Street as a whole preferred Democrats, it must have been the real bad guys, those risky Hedge funds and exotic investors…Hedge Funds: 53% Democrat, 46% Republican ($6.8 million total) Venture Capital: 64% Democrat, 40% Republican ($6.4 million) Private Equity: 56% Democrat, 43% Republican ($4.6 million) Huh. Well, then, it must have been the big health insurers and for-profit hospital corporations! They didn’t want reform! I know because I heard President Obama say so at least 64 times! HMO/Health services: 58% Democrats, 40% Republicans ($9.4 million) Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: 51% Democrats, 48% Republicans ($10.4 million) Medical Supply: 57% Democrats, 42% Republicans ($4.4 million) Hospitals/Nursing Homes: 63% Democrat, 36% Republican ($14.9 million) Huh. Well…then it must have been those evil lobbyists that President Obama has been fighting against ever since he got to Washington! That’s it! Lobbyists: 65% Democrat, 34% Republican ($23.5 million) What? You mean all that time I’ve spent watching Keith Olbermann hasn’t taught me any real facts???? You mean my head is now full of garbage and White House propaganda? For good measure, here are a few industries that did, in fact, support Republicans (although most of them by narrow margins)
Bush defends Iraq war, use of waterboarding
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/08/AR2010110806629.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Excerpt: "Using those techniques saved lives," Bush said. "My job was to protect America. And I did." Pressed on whether U.S. soldiers could be exposed to waterboarding because Americans have deployed it, Bush grew irritated and defensive. "All I ask is that people read the book," he said, adding that he would make the same decision again today. President Obama banned the use of waterboarding and other harsh tactics upon taking office, and he later called them "torture."

Dems head into intraparty fight as Hoyer launches minority whip bid
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/128273-democrats-aim-to-head-off-fight-as-hoyer-launches-bid
Reminds me of the old toast, “Confusion to our enemies!” ~Bob. Excerpt: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) formally announced his bid for minority whip late Monday even as party officials worked to head off an acrimonious fight within the Democratic leadership. “I have received support from across the breadth of our caucus to remain in the second ranking position of our Democratic leadership team,” Hoyer said in a statement. “In order to defend and build on our Democratic accomplishments, unify our caucus, and immediately begin the hard work of winning back the majority, I will be running for Democratic whip.” His declaration came as Democratic lawmakers urged party leaders to resolve a battle between Hoyer and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the majority whip who is running to keep the post in the minority. Hoyer and Clyburn met Monday at the Capitol and met separately with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a Democratic aide said.

Clyburn-Hoyer race takes bitter turn
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/128417-clyburn-criticizes-hoyer-tactics-in-leadership-race
Excerpt: Rep. James Clyburn said Rep. Steny Hoyer’s tactics are breaking with tradition and making Democrats uncomfortable. The comments are the first hint of bitterness between Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) as the two Democratic heavyweights vie for the minority whip spot in the next Congress. The contest was initiated after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week she wants to keep her position as party leader despite the Democrats’ trouncing in the midterm elections. Clyburn, currently the majority whip, said Hoyer’s strategy of releasing the names of his supporters is threatening a process that’s historically “about respecting and honoring” fellow Democrats.

How did things go so wrong for House Democrats in New York?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/house/how-did-things-go-so-wrong-for.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: House Democrats had a rough night across the board last Tuesday, but perhaps no other state illustrates the depth of their loss than New York. Empire State Democrats fared just fine in the top-of-the-ticket races: Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer coasted with more than 60 percent of the vote, and despite the national media attention lavished on upstart Republican gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino, Democrat Andrew Cuomo sailed to victory by a margin of 27 points. Amazingly, that top of ticket strength had little effect on downballot races. Ten of New York's Democratic-held House seats were ranked as competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report prior to the election; the 4th District was ranked likely Democratic; the 13th, 22nd and 25th Districts were ranked as lean Democratic; the 1st, 19th, 20th, 23rd and 24th were ranked as toss-ups; and the 29th District was ranked as likely Republican. Of those ten seats, Republicans picked up at least five -- and maybe as many as seven, if two unresolved races are called in their favor -- putting the Empire State among Ohio and Pennsylvania as the states where Democrats' losses were greatest last week. (One thing he didn’t mention is that at the House level, Republicans may have nominated candidates more in tune with the district than we did for the senate. ~Bob.)

Texas Considers Medicaid Withdrawal
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/politics/07ttmedicaid.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss
Excerpt: The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, estimates Texas could save $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, dropping coverage for acute care but continuing to finance long-term care services. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which has 3.6 million children, people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, will release its own study on the effect of ending the state’s participation in the federal match program at some point between now and January. State Representative John M. Zerwas, Republican of Simonton, an anesthesiologist who wrote the bill authorizing the health commission’s Medicaid study, said early indications were that dropping out of the program would have a tremendous financial ripple effect. Mr. Zerwas said that he was not ready to discount the idea, but that he worried about who would carry the burden of care without Medicaid’s “financial mechanism.” “Because of the substantial amount of matching money that comes from the federal government,” Mr. Zerwas said, “there’s an economic impact that comes from that. If we start to look at what that impact is, we have to consider whether it’s feasible to not participate.” State Senator Jane Nelson, Republican of Flower Mound, who heads the Senate Public Health Committee, said dropping out of Medicaid was worth considering — but only if it made fiscal sense without jeopardizing care. (Even back when I was a state legislator, we were often coerced into voting for things the Congress wanted, under threat of a cut off of federal dollars, which every state is hooked on. ~Bob.)

Cantor, Republicans signal Obama tax proposal is dead in the water
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/128295-cantor-indicates-gop-wont-budge-on-tax-cuts
Excerpt: The Obama administration’s hopes of reaching a tax deal with Republicans that would decouple rates on the rich from the middle class appear dead. House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) threw cold water on the proposed plan, which would temporarily extend tax cuts for the wealthy while permanently extending tax cuts for the middle class. “Taxes shouldn't be going up on anybody right now,” Cantor said. Cantor’s comments Monday evening on Fox News follow similar remarks from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the incoming senior Republican on the Senate’s tax-writing committee. While Hatch expressed an open mind to extending tax cuts past the 2012 election rather than permanently extending the rates, he also ruled out the decoupling proposal.

Funny Cartoon
http://drybonesblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/hamas-tunnels.html
The Gaza Flotilla was a Zionist Plot!

Black Caucus says it will welcome newly elected black Republicans
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/128347-black-caucus-welcomes-black-republicans
Excerpt: The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said this week it will welcome a pair of newly elected black Republicans if they wish to join. "Membership in the Congressional Black Caucus has never been restricted to Democrats," the group said in an unattributed e-mail to its members. "Should either of the two African-American Republicans recently elected to the House of Representatives request membership in the Congressional Black Caucus they will be welcomed."

How Do California and the Titanic Differ?
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/dennis-prager/2010/11/09/how-do-california-and-the-titanic-differ/
Excerpt: OK, riddle fans, here's a toughie: What's the difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic? The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg. Most Americans understand that California is sinking. What is almost incredible is that it has voted to sink. On Election Day, 2010 Californians voted Democrats into every statewide position (one is still undecided). This is the party that singlehandedly has brought one of the world's greatest economies to near ruin. There may well be historical parallels to what Californians did -- but I cannot think of any. A listener called my radio show two days after the elections to tell me that his business is booming -- thanks to Californians. His occupation? He's a real estate agent in Phoenix, Ariz. The middle class has begun to leave California. It is, of course, impossible for most members of such a large group to leave a state; few people leave their family, their friends, their job and their home except under the most dramatic circumstances. But this fact makes all the more noteworthy the exodus from California that has been taking place. (I think, quite seriously, that California could see Greek/French style “Entitlement Riots” in two years, as the demand for money that isn’t there grows from the increasing number of the “entitled.” Anyone in California whose business or job is fungible and has a brain is packing. And not for NY or IL. ~Bob.)

Is Obama Trapped?
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/mona-charen/2010/11/09/is-obama-trapped/
It's almost enough to evoke sympathy: the entire journalistic world poring over President Obama's post-election comments and applying a humility meter to his words, his facial expressions, and his mood. Does he get it? Is he sufficiently abashed by the voters' rebuke? But just when you think the guy has suffered enough, he short-circuits your pity. Traveling in India, the president misinterpreted the comments of an Indian businessman in a way that reveals his tenacious self-worship. As Jake Tapper reported, Mr. Bhupendra Kansagra, founder of SpiceJet, greeted the president: "Welcome, Mr. President, to India. As a fellow Kenyan, I'm very proud to see that you have made ..." at which point Obama interrupted to say "made something of myself." Kansagra finished the sentence: "... India as the focus of your drive for exports out of the U.S." Sheesh. At another venue, the president offered his highest praise to Mohandas Gandhi, explaining that "Throughout my life, including my work as a young man on behalf of the urban poor, I have always found inspiration in the life of Gandhiji and in his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world. I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as president of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world." So whom was he praising -- Gandhi or himself? Everything -- including the contribution of world historical figures -- is still all about Obama. As a wag once said about Bill Clinton "He needs to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. As to whether the president "gets it" about the midterms, it doesn't matter. As Bill Kristol has observed, Obama is not in the same position as President Clinton was in 1994. Hillarycare was defeated. President Clinton was thus free to let voters know that he had gotten the message and would never try anything like that again. And he didn't.

The Gandhi Nobody Knows
http://history.eserver.org/ghandi-nobody-knows.txt
This is the Ghandi Obama was praising. ~Bob.

Quinn says he has 'mandate' for tax increase
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/ct-met-quinn-tax-increase-20101106,0,2735375.story
The new Illinois State Motto: ‘We can catch California!” He has to reward the public employee unions to which he owes his victory. ~Bob. Excerpt: Gov. Pat Quinn may have won the governor's race by the narrowest margin in nearly three decades, but he's not letting that stop him from claiming he now has a "mandate" from voters to raise the state income tax for schools.

Border Patrol using mug-shot fliers in effort to fight smuggling
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_2a81952c-1c6e-5b73-ae42-e41482c407bb.html
Excerpt: People traveling through the international border with Mexico on Fridays will now see mug shots of dozens of smuggling suspects on fliers at checkpoints and ports of entry. The program aims to show people photos of at-large suspects in hopes that someone can give authorities tips that lead to arrests. All the people featured on the fliers are linked to the Tucson Sector, said Eric Cantu, a Border Patrol spokesman. They're wanted in connection with the smuggling of people or drugs, and all are high on the agency's most-wanted list. Border Patrol agents are handing out the fliers once a week and will display large posters with the 30 mug shots at the checkpoints, Cantu said. "We're not going to be changing those pictures too often, because we want the public to really recognize these faces, and hopefully help us apprehend these smugglers," Cantu said.

Forty-six 'dangerous' terrorists go free from jail
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8116234/Forty-six-dangerous-terrorists-go-free-from-jail.html
The innocent will die because of this. ~Bob. Excerpt: At least 46 convicted terrorists who have been either released from prison or are close to being freed “pose a risk” to the public and face tight new controls on their freedom, a secret Government document discloses.

PJM Exclusive: Behind the Scenes of Iowa’s Victory Over Judicial Activism
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/pjm-exclusive-behind-the-scenes-of-iowas-victory-over-judicial-activism/?singlepage=true
Excerpt: From a nuts and bolts perspective, winning came down to lots of traditional campaigning and staying on message, across both the traditional campaign tactics and social media. The campaign’s catalyst was same sex marriage, but the campaign hit the larger theme of judicial activism and never wavered from it. As the effort’s spokesman, Vander Plaats consistently hammered on the threat that judicial activism poses to freedom, while the spokesmen for the “Yes” side talked down to the voters and even mischaracterized what the law concerning retention actually said. The Iowa for Freedom campaign also had a grassroots effort that organically rose up to do everything from print yard signs to make calls and publish a voters guide. AFA worked with the Iowa Faith and Freedom Alliance to distribute more than 200,000 voters guides, which according to Hamilton is more than have ever been distributed by a single campaign in Iowa before. A volunteer phone bank cranked out over 20,000 calls in the last 45 days, while a letters to the editor campaign was organized through the grassroots groups. Church leaders like Mullen stepped up and, through a site called IowaPastors.com, got the word out on YouTube and social networking. The traditional campaign went viral, and soon the polls had tightened and it began to look like it was possible to deny the judges not only their free rides, but their jobs as well. The question now is, with three judges ousted, did the other four on the Iowa Supreme Court get the message to stay away from judicial activism? (Unfortunately, this option is unique to Iowa. The other 49 states need to accomplish the same goal by electing good appointing authorities and/or recalling or impeaching the authorities' mistakes (which may not be possible everywhere). Ron P.)

Some Rights Causes Are More Equal Than Others
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/some-rights-causes-are-more-equal-than-others/?singlepage=true
Excerpt: If you were arrested for speaking on public streets, where would you turn for help? These days, the answer may depend on what you were saying. Suppose you were arrested for marching through the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, protesting Israeli policies against Palestinians. Unquestionably, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would support your rights, even filing suit on your behalf. Suppose, instead, you were arrested for preaching Christianity on the streets of Dearborn. Would you ask the ACLU for help? Would it help you? Well, maybe. Consider the four people arrested on June 18, 2010, for proselytizing passersby at Dearborn’s Arab International Festival. Certainly the ACLU agreed that the arrests had violated the missionaries’ constitutional rights. The state ACLU chapter’s legal director told the Michigan Messenger that “the man encouraging others to convert to Christianity was engaged in speech protected by the First Amendment.” But that is all. The organization did not issue any press releases to that effect, address the matter on its website, or reference it in listserv emails. (...) The ACLU touts itself as “our nation’s guardian of liberty.” It has pursued a strategy of assisting society’s fringes, including its most offensive elements, on the theory that by protecting their civil liberties, it would necessarily safeguard the rights of all. Hence its advocacy for Nazis planning to march through Skokie, Illinois, a community with many Holocaust survivors. The ACLU explains, “We’re not anti-anything. The only things we fight are attempts to take away or limit your civil liberties, like your right to practice any religion you want (or none at all) … or to speak out — for or against — anything at all.” Yet, strangely, the ACLU has said little about certain Islamist attempts to chill free speech and convert criticism of Islam into a crime, although it is outspoken about government purportedly chilling Muslims’ First Amendment rights.

The Truth about Vietnam’s Tet Offensive-and the Myth that Still Inspires Terrorists... and Haunts U.S. Troops
http://www.cisionwire.com/kas-publicity/the-truth-about-vietnam-s-tet-offensive-and-the-myth-that-still-inspires-terrorists--and-haunts-u-s--troops54454
Excerpt: "This book is a wonderfully detailed chronicle of how North Vietnam's crushing military defeat at Tet was converted into a political victory in the US which would sap the American will to win. It is a truly great account of this critical period."-John O’Neill, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Unfit for Command Washington, DC- The nearly 8.6 million American soldiers who returned from one of the most grueling wars in U.S. history were shocked to discover that their battles were far from over. Their battlefield victories-in particular, the 1968 Tet Offensive-were distorted by politicians and reported by media as crushing defeats. In his groundbreaking new book, This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive, national security expert and Washington Times senior editorial writer James Robbins shatters the myths surrounding Tet and sets the record straight. Tet is remembered as the turning point in Vietnam War and the battle that crushed public support. Robbins reveals that in fact, the public had become disillusioned with President Johnson's war policies long before Tet. But far from wanting to pull out of Vietnam, the majority of Americans wanted to escalate the effort and finish the job. The Tet Offensive intensified this desire to win, but President Johnson ignored those advocating for a vigorous counter-attack against a weakened enemy. Instead, he hesitated until the opportunity for victory had passed, called for negotiations with the communists, and declined to run for another term of office. Meanwhile, the press had settled on a story line that transformed a battlefield victory into a political defeat. Robbins explains, "The Tet 'defeat' lies in wait when U.S. forces engage weak, unconventional enemies who lash out under exceptional circumstances and briefly capture media attention. Terrorists such as Osama bin Laden view Vietnam as an example of the victory they are seeking: a vicious attack on the American spirit that will result in demoralization at home and full-scale retreat abroad. This is how, even today, Tet continues to haunt us."

First lady’s handshake with conservative Muslim raises Indonesian eyebrows
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101109/pl_yblog_upshot/first-ladys-handshake-with-conservative-indonesian-muslim-raises-eyebrows
Guess the Obamas aren’t into the beauty of multiculturalism. But couldn’t he just, like, cut off his hands or something to regain purity from having been defiled by Michelle? ~Bob. Excerpt: Indonesia's pious information minister, Tifatul Sembiring, is in hot water for touching the hand of First Lady Michelle Obama, in what he describes as forced contact. The politician flaunts his conservatism as a Muslim and claims to avoid touching women who aren't family members, the Associated Press reports. Indonesia -- which has the world's largest Islamic population, the vast majority moderate -- had been debating how to handle encounters between the first lady and observant Muslim officials far in advance of the Obamas' arrival in the country Monday. Sembiring sought to deflect criticism by claiming Tuesday's skin-to-skin contact was all Michelle Obama's fault. "I tried to prevent [being touched] with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me [so] we touched," Tifatul Sembiring explained on his Twitter page (according to a translation provided in the AP report).

Welfare in California
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTUDWy6T050&feature=related
Nowadays welfare is not a check that arrives, it is a debit card that you can use to but stuff or get cash almost anywhere. This short video reveals some truly mindblowing statistics about how California's welfare dollars get spent. It's kind of comical, unless you're paying taxes in California, of course. --Del

Takeaway from 2010 Elections: Serious Conservatism is Back
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/07/takeaway-from-2010-elections-serious-conservatism-is-back/
Excerpt: Reagan, of course, worked hard, as Reagan scholars know. "Between 1975 and 1979, Reagan delivered 1,025 three-minute radio commentaries, of which he wrote at least 673 himself," says Annelise Anderson, an economist and senior research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Lee Edwards, an unofficial historian of the American conservative movement, has recounted a 1965 visit he made to the Reagan home in the mid-1960s when Reagan was contemplating running for governor of California. At one point, Edwards had a chance to secretly peruse Reagan's bookshelves. "I went over and began looking at the titles," he said. "They were history, biography, economics, politics. All serious stuff." "I began pulling the books out of the shelves and looking at them. They were dog-eared. They were annotated. They were smudged by his fingers, and so forth. This was a man who had read hundreds of books. It was clear that he had read them, had digested them, and had studied them. ... I knew right away, this was a thinking conservative. This was a man who loved ideas. He was comfortable with ideas and was able to take ideas and translate them into a common idiom." (Doesn’t matter. The talking heads in the Media, most of whom have read nothing deeper than comic books, have declared Reagan a rustic hick, just as they did the highly-educated and well-read Harry Truman, while declaring Adlai Stevenson, who once said he hadn’t read a book in years, an intellectual. ~Bob.
See: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/226296/intellectuals/thomas-sowell

Obama's Ignorance of World Affairs on Full Display in India
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/11/obamas_ignorance_of_world_affa.html
Excerpt: India has had virtually non-stop conflict with Islam since it was first invaded by Muslims in the seventh century. Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan have been in a virtual state of war since 1947, when British India was partitioned along religious lines, resulting in nearly a million casualties. Today, both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed powers. There have been at least three shooting wars since 1947 and constant low-grade war over Kashmir. The attack on the Indian parliament by Muslim terrorists in 2001 and the Mumbai Massacre, perpetrated by Pakistani Muslims in 2008, are not the result of "extremists" who "distort" Islam but merely the latest incidents in centuries of war and conquest India has suffered at the hands of the "religion of peace." It's clear that the Obama foreign policy isn't based on sophistication or even a basic knowledge of world affairs. It's based purely on fatuous P.C. sentiments that meet with approval in faculty lounges, but are downright dangerous to American security in the real world.

Georgia foils bid to smuggle weapons-grade uranium
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11709416
Excerpt: Georgia has revealed how it intercepted a group of smugglers trying to sell weapons-grade uranium on the black market. The men, both Armenian, slipped across the border into Georgia at night before being arrested in a sting operation. Highly-enriched uranium can be used to make nuclear bombs. Experts say they are worried that more might be being traded in the region, and that it could be intended for terrorists.

Boehner: "Trust me. I'm Going To Make Sure This H'care Bill Is Never, Ever, Ever Implemented"
http://www.resistnet.com/video/video/show?id=2600775%3AVideo%3A2894180&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video
Video of the next Speaker.

Feel good news of the day: Shooting in Kearns kills would-be burglar
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50630730-76/hutson-homeowner-kearns-monday.html.csp
Excerpt: A 19-year-old man was fatally shot as he tried to burglarize a Kearns home Monday. Kyle Stuart Poulton, most recently living in Kearns, died at the scene, said Unified Police Department Lt. Don Hutson. The owner of the house, near 5600 South and 5100 West, saw a man trying to go through a sliding glass door about 3 a.m., Hutson said. The homeowner fired a pistol once at the man through the glass, Hutson said. The intruder ran away. When officers arrived, they found Poulton’s body next to the road, Hutson said. Poulton had one bullet wound to the chest. “All the evidence is consistent with what [the homeowner] presented,” Hutson said. Officers on Monday evening arrested Poulson's suspected accomplice, Hutson said. The 18-year-old admitted he rang the house's doorbell with Poulson about 1½ hours before the burglary and returned with Poulson to break in, Hutson said. The man said he was trying to get in through another window when he heard the gunshot and fled. The man did not say why he and Poulson were trying to open two separate windows or why they targeted that house, Hutson said. Hutson said the homeowner had answered the doorbell about 1:30 a.m. but found no one there. The homeowner was investigating strange noises when he found the man at the glass door, Hutson said. The man had opened a sliding screen door and was trying to open the glass door.

Contrary to what feds tell us...new study shows U.S. states bursting at seams with illegal aliens
http://www.examiner.com/immigration-reform-in-national/contrary-to-what-feds-tell-us-new-study-shows-u-s-states-bursting-at-seems-with-illegal-aliens
Excerpt: Until recently, the federal government told us that there were 12 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a few months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano lowered that number to 10.8 million. Despite the fact that the official number is contrary to the Border Patrol’s own data, a recent study shows that the illegal alien population in several U.S. states has exploded in recent years. Using data from the Pew Hispanic Center, the financial trading website known as Insider Monkey published a study last week listing the top ten states with the largest growth in illegal alien populations. The study reflects the changes in those states from 2005-2009. (Illinois second behind Texas? ~Bob.)

Why CO2 isn't causing global warming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTUDWy6T050&feature=related
A really nice 8 minute video of an Australian scientist dissecting the claim of CO2 generating global warming. He is a scientist, he presents real science, he asks very fair questions and makes reasonable demands of the AGW supporters. –Del