Old Jarhead's Political Sitrep for September 5, 2012

Sorry about the date, now corrected. Time goes by too fast. ~Bob

Formerly "Political Digest." (I decided to change the name when I saw there were too many "political digests" around. Some folks thought I was copying others when my readers and I were compiling this one. "SitRep" is military speak for "Situation Report.") 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.

Information on my books

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html

Question: reports are that Charlotte will get thunderstorms all week. So does that make the Weather Channel or God racist?

Should Obama Hope North Carolina Will Change? By Kirkwood Callahan

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2012/09/guest-post-north-carolina.html

Guest Post.

Ryan compares President Obama's economic record to Jimmy Carter's. By Jonathan Easley

http://thehill.com/conventions-2012/dem-convention-charlotte/247193-ryan-compares-obamas-economic-record-to-carters

Excerpt: Paul Ryan compared President Obama's economic record to Jimmy Carter's on Monday, saying neither president improved people's lives. “Every president since the great depression could run on a record saying you are better off than you were four years ago,” Ryan said. “Except for Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.”

President Obama’s tough sell on the ‘are you better off’ question. By Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/09/04/president-obamas-tough-sell-on-the-are-you-better-off-question/?wpisrc=nl_politics

Excerpt: The last 48 hours in the presidential campaign have been focused on the single toughest question for President Obama and his political inner circle to answer in this race: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Asking voters to look ahead, not backward, is a tough sell for Obama. By Amie Parnes

http://thehill.com/conventions-2012/dem-convention-charlotte/247261-asking-voters-to-look-ahead-not-backward-is-a-tough-sell

Excerpt: Democrats have a difficult argument to make as their convention begins here Tuesday: that the success of President Obama’s first term shows he deserves a second. That success cannot be that he was true to his word and halved the deficit while getting unemployment below 6 percent; those levels remain remote hopes rather than established achievements. (If I recall from college, it was the political scientist V. O. Kay who said that voters are rational, because, while they were very bad at deciding who should run the country for the next four years, they were very good at saying if they liked how it was run for the last four. But it’s been forty years, so it might have been someone else. ~Bob.)

Hill Poll: Voters say second term undeserved, country is worse off. By Sheldon Alberts

http://thehill.com/conventions-2012/dem-convention-charlotte/247263-hill-poll-voters-think-second-term-undeserved

Excerpt: A majority of voters believe the country is worse off today than it was four years ago and that President Obama does not deserve reelection, according to a new poll for The Hill. Fifty-two percent of likely voters say the nation is in “worse condition” now than in September 2008, while 54 percent say Obama does not deserve reelection based solely on his job performance.

Four more years? A president who has had a patchy first term now needs to make a convincing case for a second one. The Economist

http://www.economist.com/node/21561890

Excerpt: Next week Mr Obama will address his fellow Democrats at their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, with little of this hopeful agenda completed. Three million more Americans are out of work than four years ago, and the national debt is $5 trillion bigger. (That's a pretty grim portrait, and then you realize how much is left out: Fast and Furious; the fact that the stimulus was such a failure, Democratic lawmakers no longer use the word 'stimulus' to describe their spending proposals; "drug-fueled violence that has plagued Mexico and spilled over the border into the US shows no signs of stopping"; taxpayer money getting flushed down the toilet in places like Solyndra while the Obama-donating executives make out like bandits; and gas prices about double what they were when Obama took office. –NRO’s Morning Jolt with Jim Geraghty)

Manufacturing sector shrinks for third straight month: ISM

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/04/us-usa-economy-manufacturing-idUSBRE8830MA20120904

Excerpt: Manufacturing shrank at its sharpest clip in more than three years in August, the third month of contraction in a row, and firms hired the fewest workers since late 2009, a survey on Tuesday showed. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity fell to 49.6 in August from 49.8 in July. The reading fell shy of the 50.0 median estimate in a Reuters poll of economists. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector. (Oh, yeah, it's working... –Barb.)

Wall Street falls after ISM, construction spending data. By Angela Moon

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/04/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE88308620120904

Excerpt: Stocks edged lower on Tuesday after data showed manufacturing in the United States shrank at its sharpest clip in more than three years in August, the third monthly contraction in a row, raising concerns about the state of the economy. Separate data also showed construction spending in July fell by the most in a year as both the private and public sectors cut back on investment, according to a report that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in economic activity in the third quarter. (We tried my [economic] plan and it worked! –Obama)

Unions dig in for Obama despite disappointment with his record. By Kevin Bogardus

http://thehill.com/conventions-2012/dem-convention-charlotte/247237-unions-dig-in-for-obama-despite-deep-disappointment-with-his-record

Excerpt: Organized labor is working hard for President Obama, looking upon him as the lesser of two evils compared to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Labor has been repeatedly let down by Obama, who didn’t put his strength behind legislation that would have made it easier to organize unions and signed trade deals opposed by workers. (It’s stunning to realize that a lot of folks are disappointed in Obama because he’s not bankrupting the country fast enough. ~Bob.)

UK: Hip and knee op rationing could become 'routine'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9518382/Hip-and-knee-op-rationing-could-become-routine.html

Excerpt: Rationing of hip and knee operations will become “routine” and waits get longer and longer unless radical changes are made to the way NHS orthopaedic surgery is organised, claims a leading surgeon.

State Budget Solutions' third annual State Debt Report shows total state debt over $4 trillion. By Cory Eucalitto

http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org/publications/detail/state-budget-solutions-third-annual-state-debt-report-shows-total-state-debt-over-4-trillion#ixzz25Vl7R69D

Excerpt: For the third consecutive year, State Budget Solutions examined state debt and calculated the total amount of debt that each state faces. This year's report shows that aggregate debt across the 50 states amounted to $4.17 trillion.

Important: The Output Effect of Fiscal Consolidations. By Alberto Alesina, Carlo Favero, Francesco Giavazzi

http://www.nber.org/papers/w18336

Excerpt: This paper studies whether fiscal consolidations cause large output losses. We find that it matters crucially how the fiscal correction occurs. Adjustments based upon spending cuts are much less costly in terms of output losses than tax-based ones. Spending-based adjustments have been associated with mild and short-lived recessions, in many cases with no recession at all. Tax-based adjustments have been associated with prolonged and deep recessions. The difference cannot be explained by different monetary policies during the two types of fiscal adjustments, and is mainly due to the different response of private investment.

The Health Care Dirty Dozen: Twelve Things (Still) Wrong with ObamaCare. By Merrill Matthews 

http://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/detail/the-health-care-dirty-dozen

Excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court may have upheld most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but that won’t fix its many flaws. Here are 12 problems that still riddle the 2,700-page law known as ObamaCare.

Assaults, an orgy - China's Communist Party battles image problem

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/04/us-china-party-image-idUSBRE8830FA20120904

Excerpt: On Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said Fang Daguo, a military official from the southern city of Guangzhou, had been suspended after he and his wife, both smelling of alcohol, had an altercation with flight attendant Zhou Yumeng over the couple's carry-on luggage. Xinhua initially said a preliminary investigation found Fang had apologized but not assaulted Zhou. The flight attendant published photos of her bruised arms and torn uniform on the Twitter-like microblog Sina Weibo, sparking a storm of angry comments. (Then the official was suspended…--Barb. Usually, when the CCP “suspends” someone, it’s from a rope. ~Bob.)

Crucifixions, Not Fictions. By Raymond Ibrahim

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3735/guest-column-crucifixions-not-fictions

Excerpt: I recently wrote an article based on Arabic reports that Muslim Brotherhood supporters had crucified Morsi's opponents. Because it was picked up by several websites and disseminated far and wide, as usual, Islam's apologists and others claimed "hoax."

Chuck Norris has a ‘dire warning’ for America [VIDEO]. By Taylor Bigler

http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/04/chuck-norris-has-a-dire-warning-for-america-video/#ixzz25VwHJ238

Excerpt: Chuck Norris has a message for America. Walker, Texas Ranger himself has made a public service announcement to warn Americans that we face “1,000 years of darkness” if President Obama is re-elected. In the video, Norris and his wife Gena stand hand-in-hand in what appears to be the actor’s karate studio (he is a black belt) to deliver an ominous warning.

Convention security the embodiment of a police state. By Charles Hurt

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/3/hurt-democratic-convention-security-the-embodiment/?page=all#pagebreak%23ixzz25VSvbxRk

Excerpt: Interest in the political conventions has plummeted, approval of politicians has reached historic lows and our public treasury is nearly broke. So what does the behemoth bureaucratic government apparatus do? It erects the most impenetrable wall of security ever amassed to protect and promote the political gatherings that separate the hyper-elite from those out of power, unimportant and irrelevant. (Bet the racist Democrats require IDs to get inside, too, thus keeping out minorities who are, in their view—too incompetent to get IDs. ~Bob.)

Egypt Kicks Sand in Obama’s Face; Brotherhood’s Leading Liberal Ally Defects; West Still Doesn’t Get It. By Barry Rubin

http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2012/09/egypt-kicks-sand-in-obamas-face.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Rubinreports+%28RubinReports%29

Excerpt: The U.S. government asked its good buddy Egyptian President al-Mursi to inspect an Iranian ship suspected of carrying arms to Syria while it passed through the Suez Canal. Remember that to do so is arguably in Egypt’s own interest since Cairo is supporting the rebels while Tehran backs the regime. The Egyptian government despite three decades of massive U.S. aid, licensing to produce advanced American tanks and other equipment, strategic backing, and an invitation to Washington to meet Obama—refused.

Egypt and U.S. near deal on debt relief

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-and-us-near-deal-on-debt-relief/2012/09/03/87b40dd8-f613-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_story.html

Excerpt: The United States is nearing an agreement with Egypt’s new government to eliminate a significant portion of the $3.2 billion owed by the economically struggling nation, U.S. officials said Monday. The discussions are the first major negotiation between the Obama administration and Egypt’s new democratically elected leaders. (well, thank God America doesn’t have a debt problem, so we taxpayers can afford to help out the Muslim Brotherhood that wants to kill us. ~Bob.)

Egypt Is an Adversary, Not a Neutral. By David P. Goldman http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/09/03/egypt-is-an-adversary-not-a-neutral/2/

Excerpt: The Obama administration is offering a trickle of new money for Egypt under the grandiose rubric of a “bailout” for the Egyptian economy....The Obama administration has presided over a collapse of a system of alliances which sustained America’s position in the region for sixty years. And if you want to know what’s happening, ignore the self-consoling spin in the mainstream media, and listen to what our adversaries are saying.

You’ll Need an ID to Prove You’re a Democrat but Not to Vote

http://politicaloutcast.com/2012/09/youll-need-an-id-to-prove-youre-a-democrat-but-not-to-vote/#ixzz25W21O6tc

Excerpt: You can tell a lot by the motives of someone by looking at how consistent they are. In order to get into the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, you will need an ID. Why can’t Democrat voters be trusted to enter a convention that’s for Democrats? Why would they lie about who they are?

When Capitalists Cared. By Hedrick Smith

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/opinion/henry-ford-when-capitalists-cared.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Excerpt: When wages are low, uncertainty dogs the marketplace and growth is weak. But when pay is high and steady, Ford asserted, business is more secure because workers earn enough to become good customers. They can afford to buy Model Ts. (I get it. If business pays you more, it’s good for the economy. And if government takes more of that money in taxes, it’s great for the economy. Right. ~Bob.)

Conventional Wisdom By Burt Prelutsky

http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/09/conventional-wisdom.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29

Excerpt: I mean, do they really think any sane person regards Jimmy Carter as the grand old man of their party. He’s the guy who pulled the rug out from under the Shah of Iran, which swung open the door for the Ayatollah Khomeini and unleashed Islamic terrorism on the entire world. He is also the fellow who was invited to dive into the deep pockets of his Arab friends in exchange for using his bully pulpit as an ex-president to condemn Israel in books and speeches for the past three decades.

Meet the Next Obama: Controversial, inept mayor Julian Castro headlines first night of DNC

http://freebeacon.com/meet-the-next-obama/

Excerpt: Democratic San Antonio mayor Julian Castro is scheduled to headline the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tuesday night despite a questionable record on crime and education and campaign finance.

Moody's lowers EU rating outlook to 'negative'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19472857

Excerpt: Moody's has lowered its outlook for the European Union's AAA credit rating to "negative" and warned that the bloc's rating could be downgraded. 9if you needed Moody’s to tell you the EU is an ever-worse credit risky, Bunky, you ain’t been paying attention. ~Bob.)

OSCE says Azerbaijani pardon of soldier who murdered Armenian harms peace process

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-voices-concern-over-repatriation-pardon-of-azerbaijani-who-killed-armenian-in-hungary/2012/09/03/a5062fb0-f5c3-11e1-a93b-7185e3f88849_story.html

Excerpt: International negotiators say Azerbaijan’s pardoning of a military officer who murdered an Armenian officer has harmed attempts to establish peace between the countries. (Well, to be fair, under Shari’a Law, murdering Christians in no big deal, unlike, for example, insulting the Prophet [PBUH] ~Bob.)

Colombia's 'queen of cocaine' Griselda Blanco killed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19472693

Excerpt: Griselda Blanco, 69, was shot dead by gunmen as she was leaving a butcher's.

Blanco was one of the first Colombians to smuggle cocaine from Colombia to the United States on a large scale in the 1970s and 80s.

China's One Percent: Portraits of the lucky ones, living large in the People's Republic. By Mathias Braschler, Monika Fischer

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/31/chinas_one_percent

Excerpt: Wu Xie'en is the Communist Party secretary and village chief of Huaxi, the richest village in China. He and his family have nearly absolute power in this model town. (Commies take care of family first. Who would have guessed? ~Bob.)

Top California Democrat likens Ryan to Nazi propagandist

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/03/us-usa-campaign-goebbels-idINBRE8820N620120903

Excerpt: A top California Democratic Party official on Monday compared Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to Nazi Germany's infamous propagandist Joseph Goebbels, drawing rebukes from both parties the day before the Democratic Party's nominating convention formally begins. (Race card not working? Play the Nazi card. ~Bob.)

Mass. Democratic chair apologizes after accusing Scott Brown of trying to be ‘honorary girl.’ By Glen Johnson

http://bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/09/03/mass-democratic-chair-scott-brown-tried-honorary-girl-folding-laundry/AF0LXdcgizb2PvpNPxCUiO/story.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=et&utm_content=http://bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/09/

Excerpt: The chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party today apologized for saying that Senator Scott Brown tried to portray himself as “an honorary girl” by folding laundry in a TV commercial targeting women voters. (Just the Democrats war on women coming out. ~Bob.)

Five Democrats Playing Hooky from DNC

http://freebeacon.com/five-democrats-playing-hooky-from-dnc/

Excerpt: This year’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., has already encountered plenty of setbacks. … The DNC is also marred by absenteeism.

President Obama Slams the ‘Greatest Generation’

http://godfatherpolitics.com/6881/president-obama-slams-the-greatest-generation/

Excerpt: “The Greatest Generation” is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation that grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity at home made a decisive material contribution to the war effort. My father served in the Pacific during World War II and my mother worked in a factory at home.

Quote

The first president to create more excuses than jobs. Tim Pawlenty.

Former Alabama governor laying groundwork for Obama pardon at DNC. By Alex Pappas

http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/03/former-alabama-governor-laying-groundwork-for-obama-pardon-at-dnc/#ixzz25W0EiGoi

Excerpt: Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, headed to federal prison next week to serve a 69-month sentence on federal corruption charges, told The Daily Caller that he’s at the Democratic National Convention to lay the groundwork for what he hopes will be a future pardon from President Barack Obama. Siegelman says he isn’t lobbying for Obama to take action before he returns to prison to complete his sentence, or even before the November election. But he’s hoping to make contact with the sort of people that can eventually help him. (He needs to raise money for Obama. Worked for Clinton supporters. ~Bob.)

Worth Reading: The Long Goodbye

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-long-goodbye.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMoXTa+%28Lost+in+America%29

Excerpt: No matter, in 60 days or so this blog will likely end. The date just happens to coincide with the next Presidential election, and, if Barack Obama wins, this blog will end also. Should the American people decide that they want to go in the direction our President is taking them I'll accept it and understand that our country's adherence to moral law, contract law and Constitutional law is no longer something our country's citizens value any longer. (If Romney wins, the situation of our Republic will be desperate. If Obama wins, I fear it will be hopeless, though I’m unlikely to give up. Not in the Marine DNA. ~Bob.)

Paul Ryan Was Right on Obama’s GM Plant Abandonment. By Joseph Klein

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-klein/paul-ryan-was-right-on-obamas-gm-plant-abandonment/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=f6dce142bd-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: Ryan’s point was that the Obama campaign had demagogued the anticipated closing and made a promise to keep the plant open with government help – a promise President Obama bailed out on after taking office. Obama said on February 13, 2008, during a visit to the Janesville plant: “I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.”

Muslim Victim Chic. By Bruce Bawer

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/bruce-bawer/muslim-victim-chic/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=f6dce142bd-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: Never mind that the only remarkable thing about “anti-Muslim behavior” in the U.S. since 9/11 is how little of it there has been; never mind that year after year, the number of anti-Muslim acts in both the U.S. and Europe is dwarfed by the number of anti-Semitic incidents (many of them, needless to say, committed by Muslims): one of the Big Lies at the heart of the ideology informing movies like these is that non-Muslim Americans have treated their Muslim neighbors so monstrously since 9/11 that it’s thoroughly understandable if some of the latter turn to terrorism.

Attackers beat up man carrying beer bottles

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/attackers-beat-up-man-carrying-beer-bottles.aspx?PageID=238&NID=29165&NewsCatID=341

Well, if you are drinking beer, for Allah’s sake, you can’t expect that “Religion of Peace” stuff to apply. ~Bob.

Pakistan: Editor of English daily thrashed for watching TV

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/WOR-SAS-pakistan-editor-of-english-daily-thrashed-for-watching-tv-3734912.html

Well, if you are watching TV, for Allah’s sake, you can’t expect that “Religion of Peace” stuff to apply. ~Bob.

Islam's Latest Contributions to Peace
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

"Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are harsh to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" Quran 48:29

2012.09.04 (Dor Baba, Afghanistan) - Over two dozen mourners at a funeral are blasted into bits by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.

2012.09.03 (New Marte, Nigeria) - Two civilians and a cop are murdered by Boko Haram gunmen.

2012.09.03 (Peshawar, Pakistan) - Two civilians are killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a U.S. Consulate vehicle.

2012.09.02 (Gao, Mali) - A kidnapped Algerian diplomat is executed in captivity by al-Qaeda.

2012.09.01 (Baghdad, Iraq) - Terrorists set off a bomb outside a coffee shop, killing two patrons.

2012.09.01 (Wardak, Afghanistan) - Twin suicide bombers incinerate over a dozen people including a child and two women.

Worth Reading: The Terrifying New Normal. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-terrifying-new-normal/

Excerpt: I’ve witnessed two of the most radical developments in my lifetime the last four years — changes far greater than those brought on by the massive new increases in the national debt, the soaring gas costs, the radical decrease in average family income, the insolvent Medicare and Social Security trajectories, or the flat housing market. One is the fact of less than 1% interest rates on most savings (well below the rate of inflation), and the other is an epidemic of 20-something unemployment. All that is the new normal.

David Gelernter: A modest proposal

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/09/david-gelernter-a-modest-proposal.php

Excerpt: Granted, polls suggest that people don’t care much about education; but that’s only because they have given up: they have cared for decades, and what good has it done? The teachers’ union, a paid-up member of the special interest cartel that owns and operates the Obama administration, is unpopular; vouchers are popular. Start there. But if Republicans care not just about winning but about the future of America, they won’t stop there. (I recommend his book, America Lite. ~Bob.)

Germans want France and Britain more subordinate (sound familiar?)

http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/58415

Article just in from the newsletter German Foreign Policy. My translation: The leading newspaper on Berlin’s foreign policy blames France and Great Britain for an emerging “democratic vacuum” in the EU. The governments of both states have refused to agree to the German demands for managing the euro crisis to the fullest extent, according to an article in the current edition of the technical journal “Internationale Politik.” The new splits within the EU must be blamed on this lack of subordination [Is this a joke? The 2 countries that were nearly destroyed by a defiant Germany in the last war are now supposed to bow to Germany’s wishes?—Don Hank], which are causing growing marginalization of the Europarliament and hence a democracy deficit. [Yes, I see it is a joke by someone with no sense of humor. So if France and Britain don’t kowtow to Germany, then that means they are destroying democracy, ja? Maybe in fact it means that France and Britain are just now rediscovering their sovereignty. How sweet that must be after all these years of bowing to the German hegemony.—Don Hank]. One solution could be for Great Britain to exit the EU. While the charges are aimed at releasing Berlin from increasing criticism of its austerity orders, which are in fact issued against the will of democratically elected governments, the crisis keeps escalating. Berlin is promoting the establishment of “special economic zones” in the EU periphery: Low-wage sites where EU personnel is helping create favorable business conditions for European economic centers – without democratic legitimacy as far as EU personnel is concerned. –Don Hank.

18 Indications That Europe Has Become An Economic Black Hole Which Is Going To Suck The Life Out Of The Global Economy

http://www.fedupusa.org/2012/09/18-indications-that-europe-has-become-an-economic-black-hole-which-is-going-to-suck-the-life-out-of-the-global-economy/

Excerpt: During August economic conditions continued to degenerate in Europe, but I figured that it wouldn’t be until after August that the European debt crisis would take center stage once again. (Right. What happens to Europe happens to us. Or rather, what the central planners (Eurozone, EC, IMF, etc) do to them, our central planners (Ben et al.) to do us. Now, pay attention: Yesterday, I had sent out my translation of an article from a newsletter I get from Germany, which in turn quoted a German professional journal. It may not have seemed like much, but it was a blockbuster because for the first time, the PC German media at the highest levels were talking about the breakup not only of the euro zone but of the EU itself. They suggested that Britain should LEAVE the EU. Why? Two reasons I can think of: They know the UK is sick and tired of the EU. They also know the EU is not part of the Euro zone, so damage would be less than if a Eurozone member dropped out. This would give a longer lease to Greece's membership. So what's in the pipeline for Greece? A rather influential "green" NGO is now making a lot of noise about Greece becoming a "special economic zone," which would supply northern Europe with "green" energy, most likely from photovoltaic cells or wind. This promises to be an even greater disaster than the problems with Greece's overspending and undertaxing. The power would have to be transported by power lines over at least a thousand miles, from Greece to as far north as Germany. Not only would the investment costs be enormous for a region that is plumb out of money, but green energy is the most expensive energy by far. On top of that, power loses wattage as it travels over long distances, so you don’t wind up with what you put into the system. Considering the disaster that was Zapatero's "green jobs" boondoggle in Spain, a major contributor to Europe's highest unemployment rate, this Greek green power scheme could be the biggest green nail in Europe's coffin so far. --Don Hank)

AFL-CIO Has ‘Hug A Union Thug’ Booth At DNC. By Michael Patrick Leahy

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/03/AFL-CIO-Has-Hug-a-Union-Thug-Booth-at-DNC

Excerpt: The Hill is reporting that the North Carolina AFL-CIO has a "Hug a Union Thug" booth at Monday's Carolina Fest celebration, one of the final "pre-convention" events at the DNC…..MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer for the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, said the state labor federation wanted to break down stereotypes regarding union members by dishing out the hugs. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005, is not participating in the "Hug a Union Thug" project.

Worth Reading: Harry Reid’s Son Representing Chinese Solar Panel Plant in $5 Billion Nevada Deal. By Wynton Hall

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/04/Harry-Reid-s-Son-Representing-Chinese-Solar-Panel-Plant-In-5-Billion-Nevada-Deal

Excerpt: The son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Rory Reid, is the primary representative for ENN Energy Group, a Chinese energy company seeking to build a $5 billion solar panel plant on a 9,000-acre Clark County desert plot in Laughlin, Nevada. ENN scored big when Clark County commissioners unanimously voted to sell the Chinese company the public land for just $4.5 million, despite the fact that it was appraised at $38.6 million. Sen. Reid has been one of ENN’s biggest supporters, having recruited the company during a 2011 trip to China. According to Reuters, last month Sen. Reid tried to “pressure Nevada's largest power company, NV Energy, to sign up as ENN's first customer.” (You’d think they would already own it, all the $$ they’ve loaned O regime. –Barb.)

NRO's 689 Reasons to Defeat Barack Obama

https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/314773/689-reasons-defeat-barack-obama?pg=1

Democrats Remove Pro-Israel Language from Platform

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/04/Democrats-Remove-Pro-Israel-Language-From-Platform

Excerpt: The Obama administration has removed all reference to Jerusalem from its platform, indicating a belief that the entire city is up for grabs. … Granted, the platform's pro-Israel language were promises the president did not keep. Those who believe in a strong United States/Israel alliance should be concerned that this year's platform does not even pay lip service to these key issues for the future of the Jewish state.

The Marxist Heart of Darkness. By Bruce Walker

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/the_marxist_heart_of_darkness.html#ixzz25WVpuH2V

Excerpt: Those who doubted Obama's immersion in Marxism now have a perfect window into his soul -- namely, in the form of the stunning class warfare remarks he recently made in Roanoke, Virginia. We must grasp, however, what Marxism is and what it is not. Marxism is not a political philosophy to help the poor at the expense of the rich, and it is not a design for a utopian future.

Charlotte Motto For DNC: We Make It Possible. By William Bigelow

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/03/Charlotte-motto-for-DNC-We-Make-It-Possible

Excerpt: The DNC will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, and guess what mantra is featured in Charlotte’s banners all over the city during the convention? “We make it possible.” Methinks ‘tis the other way around; the Obama campaign, desperate to maintain its image as a juggernaut, is actually busing people in so they can fill the 74,000 seat stadium where Obama is to accept the nomination.

Obama wins Coveted Communist Party Endorsement

http://conservativehideout.com/2012/09/03/obama-wins-coveted-communist-party-endorsement/

Excerpt: For a POTUS isn’t a Communist, the Communist Party USA sure is interested in him staying in office. Stacey McCain has more…While Obama is officially the candidate of the Democrat Party, he’s also got the endorsement of the Communist Party: Re-electing Obama is not sufficient to bring economic recovery or even relief to our people. Only a different class configuration in political power can do necessary minimum reforms to give us a chance. But re-electing Obama is absolutely essential.

Obama Cult Of Personality Dominates DNC. By Joel B. Pollak

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/04/Obama-Cult-of-Personality-Dominates-DNC

Excerpt: The Obama cult of personality dominates the Democratic National Convention to such a large extent that it has replaced the donkey, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party--which is nowhere to be seen in Charlotte. It is normal for presidential campaigns to feature boldly in party posters and propaganda, on both sides, but it is unprecedented for a candidate’s own persona to dominate and exclude the symbols of the party itself….Obama has supplanted the Democratic Party, which is now very much a top-down, one-man show.

With economy in tank, Obama will change the subject in Charlotte

http://washingtonexaminer.com/with-economy-in-tank-obama-will-change-the-subject-in-charlotte/article/2506771?utm_source=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest%20-%2009/04/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest

Excerpt: This week's Democratic convention could be remembered as the moment President Obama's poll numbers started rising. If they don't, the case for his re-election, so far stubbornly unpersuasive to more than half of the electorate, will remain so.

By Any Other Name. By Richard Fernandez http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2012/09/03/by-any-other-name/

Excerpt: Just how indefinite that belief was came through when the interviewer asked, “what is sin?” And Obama answers that it is “being out of alignment with my values.” … And I asked the Reverend Wright: “did you convert him from being a Muslim to a Christian?” And he said, “well I don’t know if I could go that far. But I can tell you that I made it comfortable for him to accept Christianity without having to renounce his Islamic background.” (Read the whole thing. –Barb.)

Massachusetts Must Pay for Murderer's Sex Change

http://www.newser.com/story/153426/massachusetts-must-pay-for-murderers-sex-change.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united

Excerpt: US District Judge Mark Wolf today ruled in the case of Michelle Kosilek, who was born as a man but has received hormone treatments and lives as a woman in an all-male prison. (I really couldn't have made this up...and I wish nobody else ever did. The state has to pay for a murderer's sex change operation. Wow.... this is past ridiculous. While I believe in society helping those who really have a need, this is way past the limits as far as I am concerned. I was going to try to imagine what was coming next, then decided that was too depressing to think about. –Del. So if I off someone, the taxpayers are stuck with my lung transplant bill? Have to give that some thought. ~Bob.)

The question to which the media dares not seek an answer [Reader Post] By DrJohn http://floppingaces.net/2012/09/04/the-question-to-which-the-media-dares-not-seek-an-answer-reader-post/

Excerpt: Barack Obama has had one unchanging personal goal- to alter America. He wants to change America. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Cutter: An incomplete is a totally awesome grade after four years

http://floppingaces.net/most_wanted/cutter-an-incomplete-is-a-totally-awesome-grade-after-four-years/

Excerpt: We’ve been waiting for the Barack Obama re-election campaign to come up with a new slogan ever since they added a period to “FORWARD.” If the last 24 hours are any indication, the new slogan is either “INCOMPLETE” or possibly “GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE.” (Now you know why the college transcripts are secret. ~Bob.)

Pentagon threatens lawsuit over Osama bin Laden book. By Philip Ewing

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80491.html#ixzz25WlUNJOx

Excerpt: The Defense Department is threatening to go after an ex-SEAL author and his publisher over a new book that challenges the administration’s official account of last year’s raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Pentagon late Thursday released a letter from its top lawyer, Jeh Johnson, to publishing giant Penguin and “Mark Owen,” the pseudonym of an ex-SEAL special operator who has been identified as Matt Bissonnette. In the letter, Johnson said Bissonnette had breached non-disclosure agreements he signed while on active duty in 2007. (Per Fox 09/04/12, Feds are pursuing. Couldn’t have anything to do with scooping Panneta’s release of CIA material to Hollywood to popularize O before election or the contradiction in stories. –Barb)

UAW’s King Exposes Fall Strategy at #DNC2012: Instill FEAR if GOP wins, HOPE if Dems win

http://www.redstate.com/2012/09/04/enter-the-bogeyman-uaws-king-exposes-fall-strategy-at-dnc2012-instill-fear-if-gop-wins-hope-if-dems-win/

Excerpt: Speaking to Michigan delegates on Tuesday, according to a report in the Detroit News [emphasis added], King outlined a union strategy of both fear and hope going into November’s elections. “We have to have people have the right amount of fear in terms of if (Republicans) win what they will do,” King said. “But I also want us to go more with hope. We all supported President Obama in ’08 because we did have hope.”

It’s Not Your Father’s Democratic Party: How the Party has Changed for the Worse since Clinton’s era. By Ron Radosh

http://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2012/09/03/its-not-your-fathers-democratic-party-how-the-party-has-changed-for-the-worse-since-clintons-era/

Excerpt: On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, one thing is clear: it’s not your father’s Democratic Party any longer. Readers of Jay Cost’s important new book, Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic, already know this. Cost gives us the analysis that shows the slow but unmistakable transformation of the once broad-based political party to a machine operation controlled by the new elites and the public sector unions, beholden not to the American public but to the narrow interests that dominate its machinery. (Well to be fair, it was not my father’s or my grandfather’s Democrat party. Granddad, a rock-ribbed Vermont Republican, almost had a stroke when he discovered I was to play Robert B. Meyner, the Democrat governor of NJ in a Tom Thumb wedding in grade school. Dad had me wear an “I like Ike” button to school in 1952. ~Bob)

GM Shuts Down Chevy Volt Production Again

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/27/Due-to-Pathetic-Sales-General-Motors-Shuts-Down-Chevy-Volt-Production-Again

Excerpt: General Motors (GM) is halting, for a month, the manufacture of its well-known but seldom-sold Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car, according to trade publication Automotive News. (Your tax dollars investments at work. ~Bob.)

No decision in Charlotte on moving Obama's acceptance night indoors

http://thehill.com/conventions-2012/dem-convention-charlotte/247395-no-decision-in-charlotte-on-moving-obamas-acceptance-night-indoors

Excerpt: A forecast of possible rain showers on Thursday threatens to dampen Obama’s big night, when he is scheduled to close the Democratic National Convention with a speech at Bank of America stadium, which holds more than 73,000 seats. Democratic officials said Tuesday afternoon described a “fluid” situation and said they don't have a timeline for a possible move to a much smaller venue — the Time Warner Cable Arena, which holds about 22,000 and is hosting most convention events. (No pun intended. Bet they move because of empty seats, not rain. ~Bob.)

Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena. By Toby Harnden

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198206/Democrats-set-Obamas-big-speech-74-000-seater-outdoor-stadium-20-000-seater-indoor-arena.html

Excerpt: Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party’s nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing ‘severe weather’.

CFPB’s unchecked power

http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/article/cfpbs-unchecked-power

Excerpt: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is hunting for scalps before the November election to reinforce the narrative that President Obama is protecting consumers from a rapacious and untrustworthy financial services industry. (CFPB is a prime example of Marxist intrusion into what should be our private financial matters. Obama is intruding on our rights and liberty in the guise of consumer protection. Even his appointment of the CFPB director Cordray was unconstitutional and speaks volumes as to the true purpose of this agency and of Obama's intent for America. --MM)

Is the President’s Jobs Council He Hardly Met With Now Done and Dusted?

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/09/04/is-the-presidents-jobs-council-he-hardly-met-with-now-done-and-dusted/

Bet Obama denies this, until he has more flexibility after the election. ~Bob.

Obama, Democrats, and the Media: You Can't Handle the 'Truth.' The country's political class frets that Americans don't understand how good this president has been. By Matt Welch

http://reason.com/archives/2012/09/03/obama-democrats-and-the-media-you-cant-h

Excerpt: Ryan is universally condemned for mentioning that an auto plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, was shut down during Obama's presidency the year after candidate Obama had vowed that the plant would be there another century. "The plant was closed in December 2008, before Obama was sworn in," Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote. But Kessler and his fellow fact-checkers turned out to have been wrong; the plant did close in 2009.

Tweet from @jimgeraghty

For the next three nights, we'll hear about all of the great ideas that Barack Obama will enact when he is elected president.

Obama’s Soaring Rhetoric: A Bright, Shining Lie; The President has walked away from the ideals that launched his career. By Rich Lowry

http://swampland.time.com/2012/08/29/obamas-soaring-rhetoric-a-bright-shining-lie/#ixzz25X5emy8C

Excerpt: “Political genius,” Otto von Bismarck once said, “consists of hearing the distant hoofbeat of the horse of history and then leaping to catch the passing horseman by the coattails.” Obama’s speech in Boston was the first sign that he was about to grab hold for a hell of a ride. (I don’t think Obama “backed away” from his ideals. I think Obama has core beliefs that are wrong: the efficacy of big government, the chimera of equality of results, the evil of property rights and free markets, the racism of all whites, secular humanism and enviro-activism as a religion, a feeling that America is the problem in the world, multicultural fantasies that make him fail to understand the Islamist threat, and a hotch-potch of leftist economic myths. But I think his only “ideal,” is the Chicago way ideal of getting and holding power by any means to reward your friends and punish your enemies. The “Soaring Rhetoric” is a tool to get power, not about ideals. ~Bob.)

Well Now They’ve Done It: Democrats Drop “God” From Party Platform

http://newsninja2012.com/well-now-theyve-done-it-democrats-drop-god-from-party-platform/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorldOfNewsninja2012+%28World+of+Newsninja2012%29

Excerpt: Guess what? God’s name has been removed from the Democratic National Committee platform. This is the paragraph that was in the 2008 platform: “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.” Now the words “God-given” have been removed. (“God” offends the base. Only “bitter clingers” care. ~Bob.)

New York Times Proves Clint Eastwood Correct: Obama Is Lousy CEO

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/09/03/did-the-new-york-times-just-get-obama-fired/

Excerpt: A Sunday New York Times front page story — New York Times! — might have killed President Obama’s re-election hopes. The story is called “The Competitor in Chief — Obama Plays To Win, In Politics and Everything Else.” It is devastating.