[Please note: links to news articles and accompanying headlines and text were valid and accurate at the time of posting but content often changes or is deleted by the original publishers for reasons they feel are warranted…ed]
Congressman: Murtha Died After Intestine Was Damaged in Surgery
A Pennsylvania congressman and longtime friend of the late Rep. John Murtha said late Monday the congressman’s large intestine was damaged during gallbladder surgery and the complications led him to be hospitalized. The Pennsylvania Democrat died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., where he was admitted on Jan. 31. The gallbladder surgery was performed days earlier at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., which didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. The gallbladder surgery was performed days earlier at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Rep. Bob Brady said an infection developed and that Murtha had a fever when he was admitted to the Virginia hospital. Brady called Murtha his “buddy” and says he’ll remember him forever. “There will never be another Jack Murtha,” Brady said. “He went out on top of his game.” [Yeah this crooked Democrat went out on top of his game all right. He made Judicialwatch’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” for 2009 list. Reminds me of that Clarence Darrow quote: “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure”…ed]
Poll shows voters abandoning prez in droves
President Obama’s overall approval rating has sunk to a new low — and independent voters who propelled him to the White House have gotten downright sick of the job he’s doing, according to a devastating poll released yesterday. Obama’s job-approval rating has tanked to a dismal 29 percent among independents, the Marist College survey found. His disapproval rating is nearly twice as high — 57 percent. Obama’s overall approval among all registered voters hit a new low of 44 percent, the lowest of any poll that uses people to survey voters. The near-total loss of independents could prove catastrophic for Democrats if the trend holds through Election Day this year. [I can honestly say that my opinion of this president’s policies and their effect on America has never wavered, never wobbled, never varied. My opinion has remained rock steady. It’s about time the rest of the country came on board…ed]
The Obama administration resembles nothing so much as a big house in the suburbs where the parents are away for the weekend. In the absence of any responsible person to take charge, the Teenager-in-Chief is letting the rest of the adolescents run wild. They’ve maxed out their parents’ credit cards and have begun working on their overdraft lines in earnest, as the T-I-C’s budget, which proposes a $1.5-trillion deficit for the coming fiscal year, attests. With “what, me worry?” aplomb worthy of a Mad Magazine cover boy, Barack Obama delivered to Congress a bloated document which proposes that more than 40 percent of federal spending be done with borrowed money, and some of the rest courtesy of renewed taxes on America’s “rich” — those people and small businesses making unholy annual incomes greater than $250,000. [If this article wasn’t so true it would actually be fairly humorous…ed]
Robert Gibbs Scrawls Notes on Hand, Mocking Sarah Palin
Following President Obama’s surprise appearance at the White House press briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs garnered laughter from the press corps by holding up his hand to reveal that he had written notes on his palm in black marker. Gibbs’ move was a jab at Sarah Palin, who was shown to have written notes on her hand at a speech at the Tea Party convention Saturday after making an implicit criticism of the president for using a TelePrompTer. [Seriously, are there ANY flippin’ adults working in this administration?…ed]
Administration Again Cuts Funding for Scholarship Program That Helps Low-Income D.C. Kids
In his fiscal 2011 budget, President Barack Obama makes further cuts in funding for the District of Columbia’s Opportunity Scholarship Program for low-income, mostly minority students. Obama stopped funding altogether for the OSP in his 2010 fiscal year budget, but after protests from parents and school choice advocates, the administration decided to let children already receiving scholarships continue to do so until they graduate from high school. In the new budget, however, funding for the OSP is slashed by $4 million — from $13 million to $9 million – $1 million of which is for administrative costs. [You can’t keep them under your Democrat thumb once they grow up unless you keep them dumb AS they’re growing up. Don’t worry for the Democrats though, they can get away with crap like this. The parents of these kids living in DC who are about to get hosed will continue to check the big ‘D’ on voting day…ed]
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Congressional Democrats point finger of blame at Rahm Emanuel on healthcare
Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform. The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor. Last week he had to apologize after a report surfaced that he called liberal groups “retarded” in a private meeting. While Emanuel has quelled that controversy by meeting with advocates for people with disabilities, on Capitol Hill he’s under fire for poor execution of the president’s healthcare agenda in the Senate. [Democrats are blaming Enamuel’s LACK OF EXPERIENCE in the Senate for this healthcare scam not getting rammed down the throats of Americans? WTF? Obama the PRESIDENT was a U.S. Senator for 143 freakin days! The Democrats have OWNED the White House and Congress for over a year. There is NOBODY else to blame for the mess going on right now in Washington DC except for the DEMOCRATS, period…ed]
Doug Wilder: Obama needs a staff shakeup
During the 2008 campaign, I strongly endorsed Barack Obama for president. I did so early, when many Democratic leaders — including many prominent African-American politicians — believed the safe bet was to back then-front-runner Hillary Clinton. I backed Obama not because of skin color but because he convincingly made the case that he stood for “change” that this country needs. Now, across many fronts — in public policy and politics alike — people have rightly been questioning whether the change has been for the better. Unfortunately, the answer so far is clear: [HELL NO!…ed] not yet. I still believe Obama can stand for positive change. But first he must make some hard changes of his own. The need is becoming more obvious by the day: He must overhaul his own team, replacing the admittedly brilliant advisers who helped elect him with others more capable of helping him govern. [Of course this black one term governor of Virginia didn’t vote for Obama because of his skin color. Yeah, you bet. Well at least he does admit Obama has fallen flat on his face as a president…ed]
[DEMOCRAT…ed] U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez tried to persuade fed to help NJ bank
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) tried to persuade the Federal Reserve to approve the acquisition of a New Jersey bank where the chairman and vice chairman were both major contributors. The Federal Reserve did not act and Elizabeth-based First BankAmericano failed on July 31. The Wall Street Journal reports it’s unusual for individual members of Congress to make such requests. The chairman of the bank at the time Menendez requested help was Joseph Ginarte. He had contributed $30,000 to the Democrat over the last decade. The bank’s vice chairman was state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a powerbroker in the state Democratic Party. Menendez says trying to save the bank was the right thing to do. [Did it not dawn on this Democrat that doing this probably wouldn’t look so good once everyone found out he was trying to pull some ropes for a big time campaign donor?…ed]
Despite millions in tax credits, wind-energy firms aren’t hiring
Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to create jobs making wind turbines in America, some companies say that sluggish demand for wind energy is holding them back. The U.S. installed more wind power last year — 9,900 megawatts, or enough to power 2.4 million homes — than in any other year. The growth in wind-farm installations in the U.S. was a product of federal stimulus spending. Nonetheless, wind-equipment manufacturers cut as many as 2,000 jobs last year. According to the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group, the drop in U.S. jobs is due, in part, to the lack of a long-term national policy that would require a certain percentage of American electricity to come from renewable sources. About half the wind turbines installed in the U.S. were made overseas. [Despite receiving billions of our tax dollars these “alternative energy” related firms have actually been canning employees instead of hiring them. Imagine, an unreliable, expensive form of energy that doesn’t have much demand. Who could have ever figured that one out?…ed]
If there is ever a contest to pick which word has done the most damage to people’s thinking, and to actions to carry out that thinking, my nomination would be the word “fair.” It is a word thrown around by far more people than have ever bothered to even try to define it. This mushy vagueness may be a big handicap in logic but it is a big advantage in politics. All sorts of people, with very different notions about what is or is not fair, can be mobilized behind this nice-sounding word, in utter disregard of the fact that they mean very different things when they use that word. [Our Constitution is all about equal OPPORTUNITY for all in this country not “fairness” or “equal outcomes.” Leftists couldn’t understand this concept if it sat in their lap and called them momma…ed]
Media Liberals Paint Conservatives as ‘Birthers’, But First Birthers Were Dems
Here’s something you won’t hear from the liberal media: that whole “birther” conspiracy movement? Yeah, that was started by a couple of Democrats, and neither is named Orly Taitz. Their names, in fact, are Linda Starr and Philip Berg, according to John Avalon, author of the new book “Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America” (just to clarify, he singles out “wingnuts” on both sides of the aisle). Both were die-hard supporters of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign. Starr was cited as a source of the false documents that got disgraced CBS correspondent Dan Rather fired. Berg is an aggressive Pennsylvania attorney (and former Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General) who filed a lawsuit against former President George W. Bush in 2004 alleging he was complicit in the September 11 terrorist attacks. [Most people know Hillary supporters were the first to look into Obama’s ineligibility to serve as president because of the “natural born” citizen qualification clause in the Constitution and many of them are still at it. For the record, Obama himself has NEVER claimed he was a “natural born” citizen opting instead for the “native born” terminology that is more easily acceptable to most…ed]
Obama’s Unholy Union—With Unions
President Obama is losing friends left and right these days. Moderate Dems to his right are getting queasy over just how liberal and profligate some of his policies turn out to be. Ultra-liberals to his left are miffed he isn’t even more liberal. Even Democrats in Congress are backing away from their once-Teflonic leader. Sen. Christopher Dodd just criticized the President publicly for playing politics in his abruptly escalated effort to further constrain the biggest banks. What Dodd tacitly implied: Obama’s bank bashing was a sulky and cynical reaction to the humiliation in Massachusetts. Not to worry. President Obama still has one unstinting and stalwart comrade: the unions. After decades in inexorable and well-deserved decline, unions are back bigtime in the Obama-nation. It is an unholy union. It’s bad for business, bad for the economy, bad for our country. [I would argue that ALL unions with Obama are unholy but we know for a fact the SEIU OWNS Obama, well co-owns him with George Soros…ed]
Ben Nelson will back GOP filibuster
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced Monday evening that he will support a Republican-led filibuster over President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. The move is likely to infuriate labor groups who have fought hard for Craig Becker’s nomination to serve on the five-member NLRB – and will likely give Republicans enough support to sustain a filibuster Tuesday. “Mr. Becker’s previous statements strongly indicate that he would take an aggressive personal agenda to the NLRB, and that he would pursue a personal agenda there, rather than that of the administration,” Nelson said in a statement. “This is of great concern, considering that the board’s main responsibility is to resolve labor disputes with an even and impartial hand.” [Looks like Ben Nelson is trying to make up for the outrage over his Cornhusker Kickback buyoff…ed]
Senate Rejects Obama’s Labor Board Nominee
President Obama’s nominee for the National Labor Relations Board fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican-led filibuster. The Senate vote 52-33, included two Democrats, Blanche Lincolm and Ben Nelson, who voted against Craig Becker. Republicans have held up Becker’s confirmation for months. They say Becker would push an aggressive union agenda at the agency that referees labor disputes between unions and management. [We like to call it “the Scott Brown” effect…ed]
London’s Islamic Radicals Speak Out
Great Britain recently raised its terror alert to “severe” following reports that al Qaeda was plotting new attacks. But Britain may be facing an even greater threat from within — one the British government helped to create. CBN News recently traveled to London to interview a number of leading Islamic radicals who have settled there with the full knowledge of the British government. Just one year before attempting to blow up an airliner over Detroit, Christmas Day bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab studied engineering at University College London. [Neville Chamberlain must be smiling from his grave as Britain capitulates to known terrorists hoping they will be nice and not blow their country up. Brilliant move. Now these guys can plot to attack us while living comfortably at the expense of the English taxpayers…ed]
Military cancels detainee interview in Navy SEAL case
The military has canceled the deposition of an alleged terrorist mastermind who claimed that he was assaulted by the military following his capture last year. The law firm Puckett and Faraj, representing Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe, made the announcement on Sunday. Major General Charles Cleveland, the convening authority for the upcoming special courts-martial for three of the Navy SEALs involved in the operation, has decided to cancel the trip to Iraq to depose Ahmed Hashim Abed. Since the SEALs have a Constitutional right to confront their accuser in court, the alleged terrorist’s statements won’t be used as evidence for the case. Abed, who is still in U.S. custody, is believed to be the al Qaeda mastermind behind the 2004 Fallujah ambush where four U.S. private security contractors were killed and their bodies mutilated. According to court documents, he claimed that he received what amounted to a punch in the stomach while in U.S. custody. The prosecution’s case against the SEALs appears weak. For instance al Qaeda’s training manual states that once captured, members should claim torture and abuse. [The great news article of the day…ed]
Health care department breaches privacy
The Department of Health Care Services said Monday it has breached the privacy of 49,352 people who receive adult day-care services from the state. The department said that letters it mailed a week ago to 49,352 Medi-Cal beneficiaries wrongly included each patient’s Social Security number on their address labels. The department said the security incident took place Feb. 1, but it was only told about it on Thursday. It started to notify the 49,352 beneficiaries about the problem over the weekend. [CA Department of Health Services provides anyone who is able to view the envelope the names, addresses and social security numbers of nearly 50,000 people. At least that is the number they admit to. Ahhh yes, that notion of wonderful government run healthcare…ed]
You betcha! Redding gets fired up for Palin
Sarah Palin drew enthusiastic crowds and standing ovations at a sold-out speech Monday night in Redding when she called for changes to America’s leadership. The former vice presidential candidate, speaking at the Redding Convention Center, also heard loud cheers when she said those changes would come from the people, whom she said are the best part about the country. “You are proof that the best of America is not gathered in D.C.,” Palin said. She spoke to a pair of packed houses Monday – an afternoon speech and another in the evening – at the Convention Center, which holds 2,072 people. [Despite the never ending personal attacks against her from the lamestream media and liberals, Palin continues to pack em in…ed]
Democrats, Meet Your Biggest Nightmare
My husband’s cousin Paulette called me the morning of January 20 from Massachusetts. Breathless with excitement, her words tumbling out so fast I could barely keep up, she recounted the joy of Scott Brown’s win in the special election to the U.S. Senate. Paulette is 66 years old. She and her husband are retired. She has an active social life which includes lots of friends and competitive amateur tennis. She babysits her granddaughter and checks on her 92-year-old father in Florida every day. She told me she’d never been politically active, “except for voting, of course.” But all that changed after Barack Obama’s election. Paulette started watching FOX News and listening to Rush Limbaugh. Health care reform, with its 500-billion-dollar Medicare cuts, scared her out of her wits. [America, meet your biggest nightmare, Democrats. Now we all need to step up like Paulette and put a real hurtin’ on em come November…ed]
Planned Parenthood Pushes Sex Ed for Kids
A new Planned Parenthood report advocates telling children as young as 10 about the pleasures of sex and undermines religious taboos against premarital sex. The report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation criticizes denominations such as the Catholic Church and various Islamic institutions for their attitudes about sexual activity. It mirrors a similar U.N. report in August that said children as young as 5 should be taught to masturbate. Children 10 and older should be seen as “sexual beings” and receive “comprehensive sexuality education” because sexuality should be seen as “a positive force for change and development,” as well as an “embodiment of human rights and an expression of self,” according to the report, titled “Stand and Deliver.” “Young people’s sexuality is still contentious for many religious institutions,” the report says. “Fundamentalist and other religious groups — the Catholic Church and madrasas (Islamic schools) for example — have imposed tremendous barriers that prevent young people, particularly, from obtaining information and services related to sex and reproduction. Currently, many religious teachings deny the pleasurable and positive aspects of sex.” [This is another part of the “progressives'” game plan to destroy what’s left of the western culture in Europe and this insidious nonsense is headed here next…ed]
Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff
Claims on behalf of authorities that naked body scanner images are immediately destroyed after passengers pass through new x-ray backscatter devices have been proven fraudulent after it was revealed that naked images of Indian film star Shahrukh Khan were printed out and circulated by airport staff at Heathrow in London. UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said last week that the images produced by the scanners were deleted “immediately” and airport staff carrying out the procedure are fully trained and supervised. “It is very important to stress that the images which are captured by body scanners are immediately deleted after the passenger has gone through the body scanner,” Adonis told the London Evening Standard. (SNIP) However, the Transport Secretary’s assurances were demolished after it was revealed on the BBC’s Jonathan Ross show Friday that Indian actor Shahrukh Khan had passed through a body scan and later had the image of his naked body printed out and circulated by Heathrow security staff. [Just wait until these things become ubiquitous in schools and courthouses…ed]
Quote of the day.
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it.
-Clarence Darrow
[How could he have known, he died way back in 1938?…ed]