Video: Why Marco Rubio will be a Future Leader

I can't recall seeing a freshman Senator ever smacking down one of the most senior members of the Senate before but Marco Rubio (R-FL) did just that to Senator John Kerry (D-MA) from the Senate floor. The subject was the debt ceiling and Rubio was landing blow after blow against the establishment. He did so well at it that Kerry apparently couldn't resist the urge to intimidate the young, inexperienced Senator. Unfortunately for Kerry, Rubio batted him down like an annoying gnat and Kerry didn't know what hit him.

Rubio can string extremely cogent and powerful thoughts together very quickly. It will serve him well as a presidential nominee one day. It will serve the Republican nominee very well to put him on the 2012 ticket. After watching this, ask yourself what a debate between Rubio and Biden would look like.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Videos: Full Fast and Furious Hearing from July 26th

Yes, I know the hearing was almost five hours long but you'll be hard pressed to find any congressional hearing more compelling than this one. I venture to say that at least 50% of this is worth watching. If you'd like to navigate to the best parts, here are some tips. Pay attention any time you see Chairman Darrell Issa, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) talking to former SAC of the Phoenix division, William Newell. Of note, is that all of those representatives - with the exception of Issa - are freshmen in the House.

Another panelist to watch is Carlos Canino, ATF's head guy in Mexico. At one point, he issues a tongue-lashing to Newell for claiming that Canino knew about the AFT operation that allowed guns to 'walk' into Mexico. Feel free to skip the parts where Democrats are questioning the witnesses. Two in particular (Cummings and Maloney) have another agenda - giving ATF more power by putting more restrictions on gun store owners.

Via oversightandreform:

Here is Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:

Open Letter: Attorney asks Arizona Attorney General to Prosecute ATF Officials

During the July 26th Oversight and Government Reform hearing into who knew what, when about ATF's Operation Fast and Furious, former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Phoenix division, William Newell was grilled multiple times. One exchange in particular between he and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) took an interesting turn when Gowdy asked Newell to respond to a hypothetical in which Mexican authorities demanded the extradition of any ATF official responsible for implementing the operation. Newell appears to have been quite instrumental in that implementation.

An attorney in Arizona has now sent an open letter to his state's Attorney General requesting prosecution of any and all ATF officials - this would no doubt include Newell - responsible for the conception or implementation of Fast and Furious.

Via Tucson Citizen:

Tom Horne
Arizona Attorney General

Re: ATF Fast and Furious

Dear Mr. Horne

As you are aware, ATF ran a program called “Fast and Furious” out of their Phoenix office whereby the let assault rifles “walk” into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels and various border bandits.

Two of those ATF “walked” guns, which were sold by a Phoenix area gun shop with the knowledge of ATF, were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

While various investigations are on-going at the federal level, there appear to be important state law issues involved in this situation.

I specifically call your attention to Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13 Section 1201 “Endangerment”

13-1201. Endangerment; classification

A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.

B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6 felony. In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Evidence is mounting that field agents within the Phoenix office of ATF warned their superiors that the “walking” of guns could lead to the deaths of, among others, federal agents.

The warnings of these dedicated and honorable law enforcement officers were ignored by their superiors. The end result was Border Patrol agent Brian Terry died as a result of these “walked” guns.

Arguably senior officials in ATF are chargeable for endangerment under state law.

I would urge you and your staff to look into the record that has been developed so far by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the sworn testimony by various ATF employees with an eye on what, if any, state criminal laws were violated in the course of the “Fast and Furious” project.

I am suggesting ARS 13-1201 as just one of what may be many examples of violation of state criminal laws by ATF officials.

There is a fundamental issue at stake here.

Sometimes the federal government operates as though it is not subject to any law, even at the federal level. At times it becomes obvious that in the pursuit of their mission, they disregard state law, placing their mission ahead of the public safety and well-being of the people within a state.

Just because they might be federal employees or even federal law enforcement officials, they do not have any kind of immunity for violations of the state criminal code.

I urge you to look closely at the conduct of ATF within Arizona, and investigate whether or not that conduct violated state criminal laws, And if you find the conduct of the ATF senior management did indeed violate state law, please hold those ATF officials accountable to the people of Arizona.

Thank you

Hugh Holub
Attorney at Law
P.O Box 4773
Tubac, Arizona 85646

This would indeed be a great way for Arizona to hit back at the Feds after the whole SB 1070 fiasco. In fact, we'll know there's something to this if the Feds drop their suit against Arizona relative to the state's immigration law in return for Arizona's AG dropping any potential case against ATF agents.

Time for Arizona to start going on offense.

h/t Sipsey Street

Video: Harry Reid Tables His Own Bill

Let's set the table here. First, the Democrat controlled Senate has violated its Constitutional mandate to pass an annual budget; it's been more than 800 days. In this debt ceiling debate, the House has passed two bills and sent both to the Senate. Harry Reid has refused to allow votes on those bills. Instead, he's led votes to 'table' them while not passing a bill of his own.

In fact, when Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for a vote on Reid's bill, Reid objected.

The man is insane.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Turkey Military Chiefs Resign (Not Good)

Turkey's secular military has been at odds with an increasingly Islamist government ever since the AKP Party came to power nearly ten years ago. The military, an important check against the rise of Islamism there, suffered a major blow when senior officials were arrested and charged with plotting a coup last year. Now, senior officers are resigning in protest. With Turkey having the second largest military within NATO, the problem, obviously, is what fills the vacuum.

Via BBC:

The chief of the Turkish armed forces, Isik Kosaner, has resigned along with the army, navy and air force heads.

They were furious about the arrest of senior officers, accused of plotting, shortly before a round of military promotions.

A series of meetings between Gen Kosaner and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to resolve their differences.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul moved quickly to appoint General Necdet Ozel as the new army chief.

Gen Ozel is widely expected to be swiftly elevated to chief of the general staff in place of General Kosaner. Tradition dictates that only the head of the army can take over the top job.

There has been a history of tension between the secularist military and the governing AK party, with the two sides engaged in a war of words for the past two years over allegations that parts of the military had been plotting a coup.

Investigations into those allegations, known as the "Sledgehammer" conspiracy - appear to be the root cause of today's resignations, says the BBC's correspondent in Istanbul, with the senior military wanting to go ahead with scheduled annual promotions for some of the officers implicated - and the government refusing.

It is very important to view these developments through the prism of the Muslim Brotherhood's 'Arab spring.' Turkey was home to the last Islamic Caliphate - the Ottoman Empire. The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to reestablish that empire; it's why the Brotherhood was founded. If Turkey's military falls to the Islamists, which becomes all but academic at this point, the Brotherhood has won yet another major victory in the region.

Here is a video report via GWP:

Investors Business Daily: White House Knew about Fast and Furious

When former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) for the Phoenix division, William Newell, testified before the House Oversight Committee on June 26th, Rep. Labrador (R-UT) asked him about some e-mail correspondence Newell had with Kevin O'Reilly, it may have been the most revealing line of questioning of the day.

Via IBD:

A former ATF special agent tells Congress a National Security Council staffer was informed about Operation Fast and Furious before guns allowed into Mexico wound up at the murder scene of a U.S. agent.

The latest evidence that both the White House and attorney general knew and approved of Project Gunrunner and its deadly offshoot, Operation Fast and Furious, came this week in the testimony of William Newell, ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix office, before Rep. Darrell Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

That the "stench of cover-up," as Fox News analyst Brit Hume described the administration's handling of the matter, may reach even into the Oval Office itself was evidenced by Newell's testimony that he communicated with Kevin O'Reilly, a staffer on President Obama's National Security Council, about Operation Fast and Furious in September 2010.

O'Reilly was national security director for North America tasked with monitoring the activities of Mexican drug cartels. We are asked to believe he inquired about a program that was providing the cartels with guns but kept what he found out to himself.

As if that didn't implicate Newell enough, in his e-mail to O'Reilly, he included the phrase, 'You didn't get this from me.' When asked why he was communicating with a White House staffer, Newell said it was because the two had been friends for several years.

Uh, yeah, right.

Read it all.

Video: White House Spokesman Jay Carney (Barker) Indicates Obama will Invoke Fourteenth Amendment

Let the impeachment talk begin. White House press secretary Jay Carney has now officially tipped the administration's hand as to what the Obama strategy will be if the debt ceiling isn't raised; this short clip seems to indicate that Obama will raise the debt ceiling by invoking the Fourteenth amendment. If that happens, be prepared to see the Tea Party freshmen in the House, those who would ultimately be responsible for refusing to raise the debt ceiling, raise Cain.

The relevant portion of the fourteenth amendment is section 4, which states:

Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

The argument against Obama here is that this portion of the Constitution speaks to incurred debt, not future debt. Nonetheless, Tea Party freshmen like Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) are already on record as saying such a move would be impeachable.

First up, here is Carney saying, 'we have to take action to ensure we do not default.'



Here is none other than Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) arguing in support of Obama invoking the fourteenth:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He's not the only one. Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist - VT) says Obama should do that as well:



Here is Rep. Scott at a recent town hall:



h/t Weasel Zippers

Another Fort Hood Jihad Attack Averted by Gun Store Owners

Pfc. Naser Abdo had been AWOL from Fort Campbell, KY since the July 4th weekend. During that time, he was plotting to pick up where Fort Hood jihadist, Nidal Malik Hasan had left off. If not for the actions of the gun store owners who sold ammunition to Hasan nearly two years ago, Abdo may have been successful. Abdo's motel room in Killeen, TX didn't just contain firearms and ammunition but perhaps bomb-making materials as well. It's noteworthy that the Associated Press used the word 'Muslim' once in their report but the words 'jihad' or 'Islam' weren't mentioned at all.

The ultimate irony? Abdo had been granted conscientious objector status because he didn't want to kill fellow Muslims. Yet, he was willing to kill men who should have been considered his brothers in arms.

From the AP via Dallas Morning News:

An AWOL soldier who had weapons stashed in a motel room near Fort Hood admitted planning an attack on the Texas post, where 13 people died in 2009 in the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S. military installation, the Army said in an alert issued Thursday.

Pfc. Naser Abdo, a 21-year-old soldier who was granted conscientious objector status this year after he said his Muslim beliefs prevented him from fighting, was arrested Wednesday. Agents found firearms and "items that could be identified as bomb-making components, including gunpowder," in his motel room, according to FBI spokesman Erik Vasys.

The Army alert sent via email and obtained by The Associated Press says the man arrested by Killeen police "was in possession of a large quantity of ammunition, weapons and a bomb inside a backpack." Upon questioning, the alert says, he admitted to planning an attack on Fort Hood.

Officials have not offered details about Abdo's possible intentions. The infantry soldier from Garland, Texas, had applied for conscientious objector status last year. A military review board recommended this spring that he be separated from the Army.

But the discharge was delayed after he was charged with possessing child pornography and an Article 32 military hearing last month recommended he be court-martialed. He's been absent without leave from Fort Campbell, Ky., since the July 4 weekend.

Abdo's arrest came after the owners of a local gun store - the same store where the 2009 Fort Hood shootings suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan bought a pistol used in the attack - called police, the Army's alert said.

Courtesy of Walid Shoebat's website, a screen shot of Abdo's Facebook page shows that his interests include CAIR.

Shoebat was also interviewed by Killeen's local NBC affiliate in its news report about the averted attack:

Videos: Dueling Tea Party Arguments on Boehner Plan

Here is a good juxtaposition between two opposing Tea Party views. One is held by Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West (R-FL) and the other by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). In many ways the line of distinction begins with a premise that says the anticipated 'crisis' that will befall America on August 2nd is real. If you're a Tea Party member and you believe that it is real, you're likely inclined to side with West. If you don't believe it's real, you'll likely side with Paul. There is another aspect to West's argument that's worth noting and it has to do with who will be blamed if no deal is done.

West points out that the House passed Cut, Cap, and Balance. Not only did the Senate refuse to vote on it, but Harry Reid offered no alternative. West says if Boehner's bill passes and suffers the same fate in the Senate, it will demonstrate that any calamity would be a direct result of an intransigent Senate, not an uncompromising Tea Party. West then throws on another relevant factoid about the Senate - it hasn't met its Constitutional obligation of passing a budget in well over 800 days.

First, Allen West's take:



Here is Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). If you're in the camp that says the debt ceiling crisis is nothing more than fear mongering, you might agree with Paul. One of the things he's been railing on should stick in the craw of every American. When Boehner says that his plan cuts $1 Trillion in spending over 10 years, he's not talking apples to apples. As Paul points out, Boehner's talking about cutting $1 Trillion from the $7 Trillion of projected spending increases over the next ten years. In that regard, Boehner and any establishment Republican who avoids enunciating that fact is engaged in quintessential deceit.

Here is Paul's take:



h/t Hot Air

Videos: John McCain Mocks Tea Party

When you watch these clips, it demonstrates just how far this country has moved away from the establishment mentality since 2008. The notion that the Republican Party would nominate a man like John McCain as its presidential candidate is so far removed from reality in 2011 that it seems like there should be much more time separating us from that election. The Senator from Arizona rarely, if ever, displays this level of scorn for his Democrat opponents because, well, he likes to 'reach across the aisle' in search of compromise.

When it comes to the Tea Party demands relative to the debt ceiling, they're just 'hobbits.'



At another point during McCain's rant, he accused the Tea Party freshmen of 'deceiving' the American people into believing that a Balanced Budget Amendment has a chance of passing. Talk about irony. Never before have I heard Senator McCain say that it is deceptive to tell the American people that any proposed spending cuts aren't really cuts at all. They're simply reductions in projected future spending.

Some on the right argued that McCain's primary opponent in 2010 - J.D. Hayworth - had no chance against the Democrat nominee and that was reason enough to vote for McCain. As I've said for a very long time, the Tea Party would have been better off if McCain had been defeated by a Democrat. At least such a person would actually represent his own party.

This is disgraceful:



h/t The Blaze

James Murdoch to be Called out by News of the World Attorney?

Earlier this month, when James Murdoch sat in front of Parliament to explain what he knew and when he knew it, the predictable defense ensued. Appearing very contrite, the younger Murdoch explained that at his level in Newscorp, he simply didn't know about what was going on under his nose. He sought plausible deniability and some may have been inclined to give it to him. That number may be on its way toward a sharp decrease if what former attorney for News of the World, Tom Crone says is true.

Via WSJ:

LONDON—Tom Crone had insight into how the dirt was dug—and defended—at the News of the World, the now-closed tabloid at the center of the U.K. phone-hacking scandal.

Now he may be on a collision course with James Murdoch, the deputy chief operating officer of News Corp.

Mr. Crone, who was the top lawyer at the tabloid, joined forces last week with its former editor, Colin Myler, to challenge the testimony Mr. Murdoch gave at a parliamentary committee hearing two days earlier.

The two men said that in 2008 they had informed Mr. Murdoch—who was then overseeing News Corp.'s European and Asian operations—of a key 2005 email that suggests that interceptions of voice mails at the paper went beyond a single reporter and a private investigator.

Mr. Murdoch, who is News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer, said last week he first saw evidence of that in late 2010.

Mr. Crone served for more than 25 years as a lawyer for the News of the World and its sister paper the Sun, earning a reputation as a shrewd hand in defending the racy British tabloids.

As the paper's in-house lawyer, he met with the News of the World editor on close to a daily basis, regularly attended editorial meetings and would typically read controversial stories before they ran, a person familiar with the matter said.

"Tom would be at the center of a lot of matters, the equivalent of a cabinet secretary," said Graham Shear, a partner at law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, who often faced off against Mr. Crone in legal disputes.

News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Crone, who left the company earlier this month when the News of the World was shut down, didn't respond to requests for comment.

A stickling point for James in this scandal has been his signature on checks that, in effect, bought the silence of those who knew of NOTW's wrongdoing.

The dispute over how early Mr. Murdoch knew about the email could boil down to what was said in the spring of 2008, when Mr. Murdoch met with Messrs. Crone and Myler to discuss settling a suit filed by Gordon Taylor, former head of a U.K. soccer union. According to a person within News Corp., the discussion occurred in a single meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes, where no minutes were taken, and the company has found no documents exchanged with Mr. Murdoch related to the meeting's discussion.

The 2005 email contains transcripts of more than 30 voice-mail messages related to Mr. Taylor. The email—sent from a junior News of the World reporter to a private investigator, mentioning a senior reporter in the text—suggests that two tabloid employees other than the one who had been convicted in 2006 for phone hacking knew about the tactic. Mr. Murdoch says he authorized a roughly £700,000 ($1.1 million) settlement without being aware of the email, which was the key piece of evidence driving the lawsuit.

The existence of Mr. Taylor's settlement, and the e-mail with his hacked voice mails, didn't become public until a July 2009 article in the Guardian. That marked a key moment in the long-running phone-hacking saga, because it suggested evidence that contradicted News Corp.'s long-held contention that phone hacking had been an isolated occurrence.

Signing checks for such large amounts while denying knowledge of the details surrounding what they were for strains credulity but proof that James Murdoch had been informed of the scandal as long ago as 2008 would be much more difficult to explain away.

h/t Drudge

Guns Given to Drug Cartels Enough to Arm a Marine Regiment

This is not necessarily a new development so much as it is an entirely new perspective when it comes to the number of guns that our Justice Department placed into the hands of drug cartels. We hear that more than 2000 weapons were allowed to 'walk' into Mexico after being purchased by straw purchasers. At this point, that is not speculation; it is fact. To put that in context, however, imagine arming an entire Marine regiment. That's what was done with Operation Fast and Furious with one tiny exception. Instead of arming a Marine regiment, the DOJ armed the Sinaloa cartel.

Katie Pavlich has an excellent piece on this at Townhall but first, take a look at this excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:

He (King George) has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

As you read Pavlich's piece, keep that in mind but insert 'merciless Drug Cartels' where 'merciless Indian Savages' was written in 1776:

“These guns went to ruthless criminals,” Carlos Canino, ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico said in testimony on Capitol Hill Tuesday regarding the scandal-plagued Operation Fast and Furious. “It’s alleged that over 2,000 guns were trafficked in this investigation. To put that in context, upon information and belief, the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment has approximately 2,500 rangers. That means that as a result of this investigation, the Sinaloa cartel may have received almost as many guns that are needed to arm the entire regiment. Out of these 2,000 weapons, 34 were .50-caliber sniper rifles. That is approximately the number of sniper riles a Marine infantry regiment takes into battle.”

The Department of Justice proposed a southwest border strategy in October 2009 to combat Mexican cartels, with final plans for the operation now known as Operation Fast and Furious coming in January 2010. The new “strategy” included multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, ICE, the IRS and the FBI. This operation entailed ATF agents watching straw purchasers buy hundreds of high-powered weapons and allowed them to go back or “walk” into Mexico, with a goal of “tracing” them back to cartel leaders. As Americans learned in the second hearing about this operation on June 15, guns were lost, not traced, and now a cover-up has begun.

“The Acting Director of the ATF, in a transcribed interview with investigators, has said that the Justice Department is trying to push all of this away from its political appointees. That is not the response this committee, Congress and the public, should expect from the ‘most transparent administration in history,’” Rep. Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said during opening statements. “To date, President Obama has been keen to talk about who didn’t know about the program and who didn’t authorize it. These answers will not suffice. The American people have a right to know, once and for all, who did authorize it and who knew about it.”

The motive behind this Operation continues to befuddle everyone who thinks it was a stupid idea. To this day, the ATF agents who blew the whistle are at a complete loss when it comes to trying to make sense of it. When a nation's most powerful agencies and departments intentionally place guns in the hands of those who would do us harm, the only thing that makes sense is the unthinkable.

Read it all.

Video: Alan Colmes Debates Robert Spencer about Norway Shooter

With one exception in this exchange, talk show host Alan Colmes was way out of his league with Robert Spencer when it came to the debate about Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto quoting Spencer 64 times. Spencer is simply too much of an expert in the area of Islam. He had his facts ready to go at practically every turn. You know you've gotten the better of Colmes when you get him to move on to another question and Spencer did that quite a bit. The one time he didn't was when Colmes asked him if he agreed with a quote from Pamela Geller about Obama being born in Kenya and how he converted to Islam while in Pakistan. Spencer did avoid answering that one.

However, perhaps the best answer he gave was when Colmes challenged him on the Ground Zero mosque being a 'victory mosque.' Spencer immediately brought up the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Jewish Temple. Shortly thereafter, Colmes moved on.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Spencer gets a 9.5.

Via MediaIte:

Did Former ATF SAC Implicate White House in Fast and Furious?

In the latest round of House Oversight Committee hearings into Project Gunrunner's Fast and Furious operation, the testimony of former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Phoenix Field Division, William Newell definitely won the 'train wreck' award. The premise that he answered honestly is beyond laughable. In fact, one of the Committee members became so frustrated that he made a three Stooges reference and said he felt like he was looking for Larry. Even if you accept the premise that Newell was telling the truth, that means he is so unbelievably incompetent that he had no business being a SAC.

As compelling as it was to watch Newell try to spin out of the corner he was boxed into, there was actually something bigger to come out of the hearing. It had to do with e-mails sent by Newell that Committee Chair Darrell Issa had in his possession. Those e-mails went directly to the White House.

Via CBS News:

At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010. The communications were between ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office, Bill Newell, and White House National Security Director for North America Kevin O'Reilly. Newell said the two are longtime friends. The content of what Newell shared with O'Reilly is unclear and wasn't fully explored at the hearing.

It's the first time anyone has publicly stated that a White House official had any familiarity with ATF's operation Fast and Furious, which allowed thousands of weapons to fall into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in an attempt to gain intelligence. It's unknown as to whether O'Reilly shared information with anybody else at the White House.

Congressional investigators obtained an email from Newell to O'Reilly in September of last year in which Newell began with the words: "you didn't get this from me."

You didn't get this from me but Newell may have unwittingly implicated the Obama administration in a scandal that involves the murder of two federal agents and countless numbers of Mexican civilians.

The levee is squeaking.

Read it all.

Video: ATF Phoenix SAC William Newell Grilled over Fast and Furious

This is but one of several compelling exchanges from today's Fast and Furious Hearing called to order by House Oversight and Government Reform committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). The most anticipated testimony was from that of William Newell, former ATF Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Phoenix Division. Rep. Patrick Meehan grilled Newell. E-mails and evidence demonstrably show that Newell was integrally involved in Fast and Furious. However, he decided to stonewall all day long. This exchange is one of multiple examples.

Audio: Boehner's Interview with Rush Limbaugh

Don't be fooled by Rush's very gracious welcome of House Speaker John Boehner to his show. In fact, Rush was so masterful at getting Boehner to expose himself that the Speaker realized what he said and so anticipated Rush's obvious next question that he answered it as if it were actually asked. Listen to the whole exchange but the nugget starts at the 3:40 mark. Limbaugh asks Boehner about the $1 Trillion increase in the debt ceiling compared with the $1.1 Trillion in spending cuts. The former will be spent in six months while the latter is spread out over ten years. Boehner realized he was busted and threw out a pretty lame excuse to justify the gross disparity.

Boehner's excuse? 'We waited to long to deal with the problem' and then he goes into some bizarre explanation about baby boomers.

h/t Hapblog:

Video: DeMint Slams both Reid and Boehner Plans

If Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is correct, then House Speaker John Boehner is nothing more than a bit player in a Kabuki dance, designed to portray the perception that Republicans have defeated the Democrats in the debt ceiling debate. My inclination is to believe DeMint more than anyone else in the Senate if not everyone in all of Congress. If there were any congressmen who are more trustworthy, the list certainly doesn't include Boehner. The trick being played on the people by the establishment involves a premise that says the dollars in cuts will exceed the increase in the debt ceiling amount. The problem is the cuts are ten years out and the limit on the debt ceiling is only six months out.

If Boehner is playing games, he needs to be primaried. PERIOD.

Here is Jim DeMint with Greta after Obama's speech and Boehner's rebuttal via Fox:

Video: Obama Says he's 'Tempted' to Go Around Congress

While speaking in front of the very racist 'La Raza,' Obama said it was 'very tempting' to consider going around Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Though he doesn't say it here, he is referring to an interpretation of the fourteenth amendment that is so controversial that the talk of Impeachment will commence immediately after he were to pull such a stunt. Though none other than Bill Clinton has said he wouldn't hesitate to invoke Section 4 of the Amendment, such talk is cheap when you're no longer in office. If Obama goes that route, it'd be tantamount to exercising the nuclear option on the Legislative branch.

Here is the relevant section:

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obliga[p.1928]tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

At first glance, that may seem to give the President the right to raise the debt ceiling but the line of distinction is likely going to come down to whether the president has the right to pay debt already incurred vs. the right to authorize future debt. That distinction is quite important. While speaking in front of La Raza, Obama flashed his typical arrogance, hinting that he might just invoke the Fourteenth amendment.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Rep. Steve King: Default = Impeachment

When Obama told CBS that senior citizens might not receive their social security checks if the debt ceiling isn't raised, he was, either lying or letting Americans know that he would prioritize in such a way that he would personally guarantee that those senior citizens would NOT receive their checks. In short, there is enough money coming in to cover social security, military paychecks, and interest on the debt. It is Obama who would decide not to pay seniors. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) says that Obama should face impeachment if he prioritizes incorrectly.

Via POLITICO:

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Monday that President Barack Obama “would be impeached” if the nation falls into default.

“STOP talking about default,” he wrote on Twitter. “The 1st dime of each $1 of revenue services debt. Obama would be impeached if he blocked debt payments. C C & B!”

King is among the House Republicans who voted for the so-called “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan that would introduce a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. The Senate last week dismissed the House bill.

As Politico points out, Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) also brought up the 'I' word recently over something very similar.

Fast and Furious Update: Did FBI Give Guns to Convicted Felons?

One of the arguments from Eric Holder about why his Justice Department wasn't complying with Congressional subpoenas over Fast and Furious was that DOJ was conducting investigations relative to the arrests of straw purchasers. Now it's been learned that of the 20 straw purchasers under indictment, two of them were convicted felons and the FBI appears to have knowingly allowed those to men to purchase hundreds of guns. The stakes in the Fast and Furious scandal just got a whole lot higher on the eve of the next round of hearings, which will take place tomorrow. If the FBI is implicated in this scandal as having coordinated these purchases with the ATF, it would seem that even further suggests DOJ leadership involvement.

Via Fox News:

In the latest chapter of the gunrunning scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious, federal officials won't say how two suspects obtained more than 360 weapons despite criminal records that should have prevented them from buying even one gun.

Under current federal law, people with felony convictions are not permitted to buy weapons, and those with felony arrests are typically flagged while the FBI conducts a thorough background check.

However, according to court records reviewed by Fox News, two of the 20 defendants indicted in the Fast and Furious investigation have felony convictions and criminal backgrounds that experts say, at the very least, should have delayed them buying a single firearm. Instead, the duo bought dozens of guns on multiple occasions while federal officials watched on closed-circuit cameras.

Congressional and law-enforcement sources say the situation suggests the FBI, which operates the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, knowingly allowed the purchases to go forward after consulting with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which initiated Operation Fast and Furious.

Here is video of the report:

Whoa! Norway Shooter Plagiarized Unabomber's Manifesto

This really is an extraordinary find. In the wake of the Oslo bombing and shootings, there continue to be a string of inconsistencies about the background of the shooter, Anders Behring Breivik. For example, his Facebook page appears to have been changed by someone other than himself after he had gone on his murderous rampage. The change included his being identified as both a Christian and a conservative. Now, it looks like his exhaustive manifesto plagiarizes the Unabomber, a far left extremist who supported a radical environmentalist group known as Earth First!

Check out what Document.no has uncovered. With the exception of a few words, Breivik has copied the words of Ted Kaczynski exactly. Each example below juxtaposes Unabomber's manifesto excerpt with Breivik's excerpts. In the first paragraph of each entry, I've bolded the words that have been interchanged. Continue reading to find more.

Via Document.no:

Una-bomberens manifest pkt. 6 til 23:

One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is leftism, so a discussion of the psychology of leftism can serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of modern society in general.

7. But what is leftism? During the first half of the 20th century leftism could have been practically identified with socialism. Today the movement is fragmented and it is not clear who can properly be called a leftist. When we speak of leftists in this article we have in mind mainly socialists, collectivists, “politically correct” types, feminists, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists and the like. But not everyone who is associated with one of these movements is a leftist. What we are trying to get at in discussing leftism is not so much a movement or an ideology as a psychological type, or rather a collection of related types.

Anders Behring Breiviks manifest, pkt. 2.17:

One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is multiculturalism, so a discussion of the psychology of multiculturalists can serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of Western Europe in general.

But what is multiculturalism or Cultural Communism? The movement is fragmented and it is not clear who can properly be called a cultural Marxist. When we speak of cultural Marxists in this article we have in mind mainly individuals who support multiculturalism; socialists, collectivists, “politically correct” types, feminists, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists, environmentalists etc. But not everyone who is associated with one of these movements support multiculturalism. What we are trying to get at in discussing cultural Marxists is not so much a movement or an ideology as a psychological type, or rather a collection of related types.

There is far more to this. Check the link below to read Breivik's rantings. In effect, he appears to have changed Kaczynski's words to reflect the more politically charged rhetoric of today.

Read it all. WOW.

h/t Free Republic

Video: PP Simmons Analyzes Media Narrative about Norway Shooter

No smoking gun here but some interesting questions raised in a PP Simmons video about a media narrative that has already begun. That narrative is starting with the premise that Anders Behring Breivik is a Christian and a conservative based on what was listed on his Facebook page. There is apparently a law in Norway that says anyone born of two Norwegian parents in that country is automatically registered as a Protestant Christian and that to be removed, one has to register as another religious group or as a humanist.

Breivik is also apparently registered with Norway's 'Progress Party,' the more conservative wing of that country's liberal Party.



h/t WND

Was Facebook Page of Oslo Terrorist Changed while he was Detained?

The questions about Oslo terrorist Anders Behring Breivik continue to mount. Among the most perplexing involves his Facebook page, which was apparently altered to include the descriptors 'Christian' and 'Conservative' after he had already been apprehended. That begs one very simple question: Who changed Breivik's Facebook page? As Pamela Geller points out, once Breivik's name was released, he had already perpetrated his attacks. Note how his Facebook page looked immediately after his name had been released:

Via Atlas Shrugged, note how there is no mention of him being either Christian or conservative (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):

Then, his facebook page changed to reflect his conversion to Christianity sometime either during or after his shooting of children (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):

This is beyond being highly suspicious. If, indeed, Breivik's Facebook page was manipulated to portray him as someone the left has been frothing at the mouth to find, the entire Facebook account of Anders Behring Breivik must be considered suspect.

For example, Solid Principles has linked to a PDF of a more extensive Facebook profile of Breivik. Take note of the Sponsored links in the right hand column. One features Sarah Palin and another, Bret Baier.

Another very curious aspect to Breivik's profile comes courtesy of Sky News. Apparently, his 1500 word manifesto paints him as a 'Neo-Nazi.' Uh, if he's a neo-Nazi, he ain't no Christian.

Something really, really stinks about this whole thing.

h/t Jihad Watch

Is State Department Running Guns to Cartels or is the Charge Supposed to be a Distraction?

As the ATF's Fast and Furious / Project Gunwalker scandal continues to heat up, are we being set up to believe that there may be something even worse, courtesy of Hillary Clinton's State Department? According to a report that cites a former CIA operative who led the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intel operation, the Obama administration is running guns to the extremely violent Zetas cartel through the State Department, which is not just selling weaponry but military grade weaponry. This report is very damning to the State Department but the fact that it comes courtesy of the UPI should be a red flag all by itself.

Bob Owens at Pajamas Media via UPI:

A Mexican drug cartel may be smuggling military-grade weapons through El Paso, Texas, and Columbus, N.M., into Mexico, a former intelligence officer said

Phil Jordan, a former CIA operative, told the El Paso Times that the Zetas drug organization might be planning to disrupt Mexico's 2012 elections or use the weapons to fight other cartels.

Jordan, who served as director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intelligence Center in 1995, said the Zetas have shipped large amounts of weapons purchased in the Dallas area through El Paso.

Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, told the Times he supported Jordan's allegations, adding that the Zetas have reportedly bought property in the Columbus, N.M., border region to stash weapons and other contraband.

"From the intel, it appears that a company was set up in Mexico to purchase weapons through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales Program, and that the company may have had a direct link to the Zetas."

Conversely, Mike Vanderboegh over at Sipsey Street has strong suspicions that this is simply a disinformation campaign designed to take the attention off of the now confirmed, and very legitimate Fast and Furious scandal. Vanderboegh seems somewhat convinced that the scandal known as 'Grenadewalker' was likely manufactured intentionally for this purpose and he makes an excellent case for it:

Agendas and disinformation come in all shapes and sizes and from all directions.

"Tosh" Plumlee, upon whom much of the sensational part of this story hangs, has a history of both according to my sources.

And those sources, I have learned from experience, CAN be trusted.

Owen's story headline is: "Worse Than Gunwalker? State Dept. Allegedly Sold Guns to Zetas: It’s a stunning allegation that makes the other gunrunning scandals look like child’s play."

Yes, well, it is supposed to. In fact, it was probably designed to.

Even if Owens is right and Vanderboegh is wrong, the course the latter recommends is the best one, without question. Fast and Furious is a scandal that has taken months to get to this point; Issa's committee has been setting the hook in the mouth of an extremely large fish at the Department of Justice. Those who want the focus to shift to Grenadedwalker are actually advocating cutting the line because they think there's a bigger catch nearby.

Read Sipsey Street's entire post.

Anthony Weiner Update: Says he has Three Women to Deal with

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, have been out of the news lately but Weiner was spotted on a flight from Orlando to New York. He also has unidentified friends who have reported to the New York Post that Huma is not the only woman Weiner has to deal with; he apparently is quite concerned about the ire of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Huma's mother, Saleha, who has been outed as a Muslim Brotherhood member.

Via New York Post:

Forget his wife -- Anthony Weiner has an even bigger problem on his hands: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The horndog ex-House member from Queens is telling friends that while he's finally started therapy for his sex addiction, the really hard part of his "recovery" will be getting his wife's boss to believe he's through with his naughty habits.

"My problem is that I have three women I have to convince that I'm cured: Huma, her mother -- and Hillary," Weiner, 46, told a friend recently.

Weiner's humiliated, pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, is a top aide to Clinton, whose own hubby, ex-President Bill Clinton, was disgraced by seamy sex shenanigans while in office.

Hang on here for a second. We know that Hillary went after Bill's women more than she went after Bill; think Kathleen Willey and Juannita Brodderick.

Regarding Saleha.. As a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, she should have no problem whatsoever with Weiner having multiple affairs, or even wives.

h/t Hot Air

Oslo Shooter Identified as a Right-Wing Extremist

The near simultaneous bombing of Norwway's Prime Minister's office and the mass shooting of children at a summer camp on the island of Utoya had all the markings of an al-Qaeda style, multi-pronged attack in that regard. One Islamic group - Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (Helpers of Global Jihad) - initially claimed responsibility for the bombings but the man apprehended at Utoya is being identified as a 'right wing extremist,' and as a Christian. Anders Behring Breivik is said to have acted alone.

The style of the attack, coupled with an alleged perpetrator who doesn't fit the profile of someone who would commit such an act is not the only thing suspicious about all of this. The Jawa Report has made an interesting discovery. Apparently, Breivik had a facebook page that he shut down days before his rampage only to open a new one with very limited information on it:

I was reading some of his posts on Morgenbladet.no(sp?)[need google translate]. Don't see much of anything that would really stand out. Also, apparently he had another Facebook account and closed it before opening his current one. He only posted videos and only 2 days of posts-17th and 18th. The Facebook page is gone now and only his twitter remains.

Via Michelle Malkin, here is a portion of the Daily Mail's account of who Breivik is:

The massacre in Norway was the work of a man with extreme right wing views who hated Muslims, police said this morning.

Officers found a series of raving internet posts by 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, who was been charged with two accounts of terrorism after gunning down children on the island of Utoya and detonating a bomb in Oslo yesterday.

Media reports in Norway described Breivik as a 'loner', who lived with his mother in a wealthy suburb of west Oslo, was well-educated and enjoyed hunting.

Only a few days ago he set up a Twitter account and posted a single message: 'One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests'.

It is attributed to the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, whose concept of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control.

The account appears to have only been set up a few days ago.

On his Facebook profile, Breivik describes himself as a Christian and a conservative.

It also listed interests such as body-building and freemasonry.

So it looks like this guy's twitter account had only recently been set up as well. It's worth noting that Free Masons have about six million adherents world wide, so it's nowhere close to being mainstream when it comes to Christianity. The Daily Mail also reports on Breivik's apparent hatred for Islam and support for Geert Wilders:

According the website Atlantic.com, Breivik expressed extremist Islamophobic views on forums and criticised immigration policies.

He argued on a Swedish news website that the media were not critical enough about Islam and claimed that Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom in the Netherlands was the only 'true' party of conservatives.

He argued that socialism was breaking down traditions, culture, national identity and other societal structures and that this in turn made society weak and confused.

This begs some questions: If this guy was anti-Islam, why would he attack non-Muslims? Why does he seem like the poster child for everything the left wants to believe about Christians? Why did he shut down one facebook account and open a new one days before these attacks? When did he start posting on these forums about his anti-Islamic views? Why did Muslim groups claim responsibility?

Lastly, how will this be exploited by the left?

h/t Michelle Malkin

LA Times Releases Damning ATF E-Mails over Fast and Furious

The only thing more shocking than the fact that the Los Angeles Times is revealing some incredibly damning ATF emails that show a conscious effort on the part of ATF leadership to direct agents not to cooperate with Senator Chuck Grassley, are the emails themselves. As you check out the e-mails, take note of where Deputy Director William Hoover directs subordinates to go with concerns, instead of Congress - the DOJ IG. Not so coincidentally, every time Darrell Issa or Grassley demand documents, Attorney General Holder says the IG is investigating.

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Two days after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was killed in December, the top ATF supervisors in Phoenix said in internal emails that weapons found at the scene in Arizona came from a failed agency sting operation.

But nearly two months later, when U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) inquired about the origin of the guns, senior officials in Washington with the Justice Department and its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were evasive.

Grassley asked whether the guns were "used" in the killing. According to agency emails obtained by the Tribune/Times Washington bureau, the Justice Department response to Grassley said that "these allegations are not true." The response made no acknowledgement that the guns were even there.

The piece then explains to what lengths the ATF leadership went in order to avoid Grassley's inquiries.

The goal of the sting operation, dubbed Fast and Furious, was to observe but not prevent a series of illegal gun purchases in the hopes that agents could follow the guns and learn about smuggling routes into Mexico. The program, which began in November 2009, largely failed. ATF lost track of many of the weapons. Along with the two guns found at the Terry shooting, nearly 200 more were found at crime scenes in Mexico.

After the death of Terry and Grassley's inquiries, the agency sought to close ranks. In an email on Feb. 3, ATF supervisors were told "you are in no way obligated to respond to congressional contacts or requests for information.... You are not authorized to disclose non-public information about law enforcement matters outside of ATF or the Department of Justice to anyone, including congressional staff."

In addition, in a series of emails to William J. Hoover, the ATF's acting deputy director, bureau officials discussed what steps to take to throw Grassley and congressional investigators off the trail.

Instructing whistleblowers not to talk with congress is not just a clear signal that something is amiss; it's also not legal.

The next Oversight Committee hearing is set for Tuesday, July 26th and these e-mails should contribute greatly to some heat that Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Phoenix Division, William Newell is likely to feel when taking questions from Issa and others. E-mails between him and Chait demonstrate how ATF attempted to use the crisis created by Fast and Furious to push a gun control narrative.

HERE are the e-mails posted at LA Times

Video: CNN Hit Piece on Former PLO Member Explained

Shortly after CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 aired a two-part news segment with reporter Drew Griffin, in which former PLO member and Muslim Brotherhood activist, Walid Shoebat was the target of an obvious smear campaign, Shoebat's website posted an extensive rebuttal that debunked practically every one of Griffin's claims. One of the former terrorist's claims is that he has strong evidence that CNN colluded with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in producing the report.

If you don't have time to read the entire rebuttal, here is a video that covers the basics.

Via Special Guests:

Wisconsin Economy Growing, Union Thugs Conspicuously Silent

Well, it looks like Governor Scott Walker continues to win the battle for Wisconsin. Private sector job growth is taking place in the liberal state of Wisconsin, not because of liberal policies but because liberal policies were rejected. It didn't take long either. The biggest reason for the increase in the private sector growth had to do with - wait for it - government workers being let go who then had to find jobs elsewhere. Guess where they found them. The private sector. For the first time, many of these workers will probably feel better at the end of their work day.

Via JS Online:

Wisconsin bucked a lackluster national trend in June and added an estimated 12,900 private-sector jobs from May to June, representing the largest single-month gain of private sector jobs since September 2003.

Hailing "incredibly good news," Gov. Scott Walker took the unusual step of traveling to Milwaukee to present the state's latest monthly unemployment report in person. Some of the good news stems from the policies of his 6-month-old Republican administration, he said, but added that the overall business climate or "motivation" was also a factor that worked in the economy's favor.

Citing the latest data, which Wisconsin receives from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Walker noted that Wisconsin effectively created half of the net new jobs in the nation last month, which was an abysmal month for national job creation.

Total net new jobs in Wisconsin last month rose 9,500 because a continued decline in government employment offset some of the gains of the private-sector job creation. That compares to an equivalent national figure of 18,000, which derives from net new U.S. private-sector growth of 57,000 jobs minus the drop of 39,000 in government payrolls.

This is what we call opportunity cost. When government workers are let go, not only do expenditures go down but those workers end up actually paying taxes from their jobs in the private sector, which increase government revenues.

h/t GWP

Keith Ellison to Herman Cain: He is a 'Bigot'

Yet another example that shows ideology trumps race, which makes one wonder why we need to have a racially based caucus like the Congressional Black Caucus at all. The CBC has already come out against one of its members - Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West - for standing up to far left extremist Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Now, another one of its members, Muslim Keith Ellison, is calling Herman Cain a 'bigot.' If Cain was a member of Congress, he too would qualify to be a member of the CBC, which would mean that Ellison would have to either leave the caucus or concede to belonging to a group that allows bigots. See how this works?

Salon conducted an interview with Ellison in which the CBC member referred to Cain as a 'bigot.' Via Salon:

Over the past few months, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain has carved out a place as the most prominent anti-Muslim figure in the GOP presidential field, and, arguably, the country.

First, earlier this year, he promised he would not hire any Muslims to be in his future cabinet, subsequently repeating various versions of that pledge. Then, on a trip to Tennessee last week, Cain came out against the construction of a mosque project there. On Fox News Sunday, he expanded that stance, endorsing the idea that any American community could bar construction of mosques.

To get a response to Cain's new comments, I spoke to Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who is one of two Muslim members of Congress and who has emerged in recent years as a loud anti-anti-Muslim voice.

"It seems like a week doesn't go by without Cain saying something incredibly offensive, so I can only guess that he's doing it on purpose," said Ellison. "He's probably figured out that he can get headlines if he says something really ugly, so he doesn't disappoint."

Ellison said he feels moved to address these issues because when people "start whipping up hatred against a certain group over the course of years, bad things happen. History teaches us that if you continue to stir the pot, stir the cauldron, it will not be long before something awful happens."

A partial transcript of our conversation follows.

What's your reaction to Herman Cain's comments on Sunday that communities should be able to ban construction of mosques?

This is ridiculous and has no foundation in American law. In fact, the U.S. Constitution says Congress shall make no law establishing a religion and shall not abridge the exercise thereof. He runs right into the First Amendment. But the larger question is, why is he trying distinguish himself as the religious bigot of the presidential race of 2011 and 2012?

I will say it until I'm blue in the face. Sharia law is not protected by the First Amendment. It is PROHIBITED by Article VI, which says the US Constitution shall be the 'Supreme Law of the land,' something sharia law aspires to be.

Sorry, Keith. The two are not compatible.

Read entire interview.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Rep. Allen West Calls DNC Chairwoman 'Vile,' 'Despicable'

DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz unwittingly stoked the Lt. Col. Allen West hornet nest when she referred to him on the House floor after he had left. In response to West's support of the Cut, Cap, and Balance resolution, Schultz accused West of supporting a plan that would increase costs to Medicare recipients. Once word of Schultz's smear tactics got back to West, he fired off a scathing email to the DNC Chair, calling her 'vile,' 'despicable,' and 'unprofessional.' He also threw in something about her not being a 'lady.'

Here is the email via POLITICO:

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!

I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.

You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Steadfast and Loyal

Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

Note the difference in leadership style between Boehner and West. One cries while the other fights back.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Senator Jim DeMint's Stark Warning to House Republicans

The good news is that the House passed the DeMint - endorsed Cut, Cap, and Balance (CCB) resolution. The bad news is that the odds of it getting through the Senate are nil. Obama would veto it if it magically got to his desk anyway. There's more bad news, unfortunately. The McConnell / Gang of six plan looks like it just might pass both Houses. DeMint is warning House Republicans that if the McConnell plan gets through the House, there will be enormous consequences for the Republican Party - it's possible extinction.

Via The Daily Caller:

Republican South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint said Tuesday that the McConnell back-up plan on the debt limit could be the downfall for Republicans.

“I think for Republicans to cave on this after what happened with the Continuing Resolution, again, I think you’d see a deterioration of base of support, and a whole lot of third party activity,” said DeMint at a meeting at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. “I’m afraid this is make or break time for Republicans.”

DeMint’s comments came in response to a question about the back-up plan being worked on by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. When it was first introduced by McConnell last week, the plan caused a fierce backlash among conservatives

But while the back-up option is by all accounts gaining traction, DeMint warned it could be the undoing of the Grand Old Party.

“It’d be suicidal for Republicans in the House to vote for it,” said DeMint.

The Senator, who is a conservative hero across the country, was one of the original signers of the Cut, Cap, Balance pledge, and then one of the co-sponsors when it was put into legislative language. But on Tuesday, DeMint not only blasted moderate debt-limit deals, he had harsh words for the entire process as well.

Conservatives began wincing as soon as the words of the plan came out of McConnell's mouth. We doubled over after learning that McConnell is actually working with Majority Leader Harry Reid on the particulars.

According to the AP, a surprising number of Republican Senators are getting behind the McConnell plan, which actually calls for more than $1 Trillion in new taxes:

President Barack Obama and a startling number of Republican senators lauded a deficit-reduction plan put forward earlier in the day by a bipartisan "Gang of Six" lawmakers that calls for $1 trillion in what sponsors delicately called "additional revenue" and some critics swiftly labeled as higher taxes.

The days of good cop / bad cop, establishment style politics are coming to an end. To DeMint's point, any Republican Senator who signs onto this deal and is up for reelection in 2012, he or she needs to be primaried at minimum. As for the House passing it, DeMint may be right about the end of the Republican Party at that point.

HERE is the entire AP article.

Video: Congressman to Chris Matthews: 'Obama Doesn't Send a Thrill up MY Leg'

Republican leadership should actually be quite embarrassed by their freshman colleagues, not because those freshmen are doing anything wrong but because they're upstaging the establishment Republicans. Case in point is Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) who completely manhandles MSNBC's Chris Matthews in this exchange. In fact, at no point, did Walsh back down over the course of 11 minutes. He didn't back away from his claim that Obama lied when he said senior citizens might not get their social security checks. He was in Chris Matthews' face the whole time, including when he told Matthews that Obama 'doesn't send a thrill up my leg, Chris.'

Watch it all because it's all good.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

h/t Weasel Zippers

RNC Chairman Tells Holder to Investigate Obama over Fundraising Video

Not sure how much traction this one is going to get but RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will certainly ingratiate himself with the Tea Party by going on offense like this. Priebus has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, demanding that the details behind Barack Obama's fundraising video be investigated and that there may have been a federal crime committed. The charge, levied by Preibus, is that it is illegal to solicit political contributions from where Obama was seen in the video.

Via Jake Tapper at ABC News:

The Republican National Committee has asked the Justice Department to investigate what it calls a matter of “grave concern:” President Obama’s appearance in a campaign video filmed inside the White House.

“If President Obama recorded the video in the Map Room, then it appears he has committed a crime under federal law,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The letter attempts to revive an issue Republicans first raised weeks ago but that has failed to gain much attention or traction. Many good government groups and independent legal experts have dismissed the claims.

Still, Priebus says Obama’s use of a “place of official government business” to solicit political contributions is against the law, and that all money collected in response to the video should be returned. He stopped short of calling for the appointment of a special counsel.

The odds of Eric Holder responding to the Priebus LETTER are not even worth considering. They are zero. Nonetheless, Holder's got quite a few problems to deal with these days and if this helps his department become even further overwhelmed, so be it.

This is also a good precedent for the RNC to set. The Tea Party is tired of a reluctance to fight. As long as this is an honest attempt to do so, it will be appreciated, regardless of the outcome.

Hopefully, Boehner and McConnell are paying attention because the Tea Party wants to see similar fight in them.

h/t Drudge

Will James Murdoch be Arrested?

The NewsCorp empire appears to be crumbling at breakneck speed. Both Rupert and his son, James, will be in front of British Parliament today to explain what they knew and when they knew it. Rupert is likely to come off as the older, top guy who was quite removed from the details of the hacking scandal. James, on the other hand, is in charge of NewsCorp's Europe division and appears to have been intricately involved, even signing checks made out to victims of the hacking scandal, checks that ostensibly were to buy those victims' silence. The pen James used to sign them may be a smoking gun.

Via ABC News:

The Murdoch dynasty may be coming to an end.

James Murdoch, considered the heir apparent to his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire, may be forced to resign or, worse, could face arrest as News Corp's phone hacking scandal continues to unravel.

"I don't see how he can survive," Howell Raines, former executive editor of The New York Times told ABCNews.com. "Seems to me that the movement both politically and legally is ominous."

As for Rupert Murdoch, Raines said, "I think he's seriously wounded."

Raines resigned from the New York Times in 2003 amid the newspaper's own scandal after a reporter, Jayson Blair, had committed plagiarism and fabricated stories.

Father and son are expected to appear before a committee in the British parliament today to tell what they knew about News of the World employees illegally eavesdropping on the phone messages of celebrities, politicians, royal staffers and, as recently revealed, terror and murder victims.

By all accounts, James is a leftwing ideologue who has a cozy relationship with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Those things don't seem to be getting any media attention.

Feds Withholding Evidence in Fort Hood Jihadist's Trial

Claims by the defense lawyer for Fort Hood Jihadist, Nidal Malik Hasan, that the government is preventing him from seeing a White House Intelligence report on the shooting. Attorney John Galligan's claims that he has been denied access to important evidence appear to be quite accurate at this point. Ironically, this may be the one thing on which Galligan should be able to garner public support. It looks like he's not getting access to all of the emails between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki. This could say quite a bit about what the Feds don't want revealed about them.

Via Fox News:

A new filing in the Fort Hood case shows that a key White House Intelligence report on the Fort Hood Shooting in November 2009 is still being withheld from the defense. The Army also admits it does not have all of the emails exchanged between the accused shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan and the first American on the CIA’s kill or capture list, Anwar al-Awlaki.

The documents, filed on July 14 as part of the Fort Hood prosecution, state:

“Trial counsels (Army lawyers) have produced all electronic communication in their possession between the Accused and Anwar al-Awlaki. On information and belief, trials counsels do not believe they possess all electronic communications between the Accused and the individuals (al-Awlaki.)”

Hasan’s defense lawyer, John Galligan, says he was given nine emails by the military as part of the discovery process. Yet, sources who have reviewed the email exchange between Hasan and Awlaki which began in December 2008 tell Fox News there are at least 18 emails.

Based on the history of our federal government's behavior, there is possibly something in the Intelligence report that is very damaging.

Characterization of the emails exchanged between the accused Fort Hood shooter and the cleric range from benign to clearly concerning in tone. In one email, Hasan reportedly asked if it was okay to kill Americans – though U.S. officials will not comment publicly on the accuracy of those reports or the contents of the emails.

Yet, some former intelligence officials say the mere contact between Hasan and Awlaki – an American citizen who leads the new breed of Digital Jihadists who spread their ideology of hate through the web – should have prompted immediate action. Fox News’ investigative unit, in its special “Secrets of 9/11,” has shown that Awlaki’s contact with three of the 9/11 hijackers was not a series of coincidences but rather evidence of a purposeful relationship.

Cover-up, damage control, and CYA?

Read it all.

Registered Socialist, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) Says Americans Don't 'Get it'

The unmasking of the leftwing agenda continues... While appearing on the Don Wade and Roma show on WLS in Chicago, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who is also one of 70 members of Congress who belong to the Democratic Socialist caucus, reiterated what Barack Obama said at a recent news conference. Specifically, Obama referred to 'professional politicians' who know more about what the debt ceiling is compared to the 'public at large.' When asked about this, Schakowsky took that a step further and said the American people 'don't understand.'

Unfortunately for Jan, the American people are understanding perfectly well what's going on and the lying, establishment politicians like herself are being exposed daily. Her explanation about why the social security checks might not go out in the event the debt ceiling isn't raised is utterly incoherent.

Via The Blaze:



BONUS: After watching that nonsense, have a look at Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West (R-FL) give his take on Obama saying that seniors may not get paid their social security checks.

Via CNS News:

Family of Murdered ICE Agent Wants to know where the Gun used to Murder him, came from

The most well known casualty when it comes to Operation Fast and Furious is Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, who was murdered in December. Two guns the ATF let 'walk' into Mexico were found at the scene. However, there was also another federal agent whose death is tied to Fast and Furious. His name is Jaime Zapata and he was an ICE agent murdered in Mexico. One of the reasons Terry's death is getting more attention is because the appearance of those guns is confirmed. In Zapata's case, his family continues to get the runaround from the feds and they're demanding answers.

Via the LAT:

Five months after U.S. immigration agent Jaime Zapata was shot to death by a Mexican drug cartel, his family is demanding to know whether the weapons were purchased in the United States and smuggled into Mexico under the now-defunct Fast and Furious operation.

The family complains that U.S. authorities in Washington and Texas have refused to answer crucial questions about the Feb. 15 ambush on a four-lane highway in northern Mexico.

"What happened with Jaime needs to come out," the family's lawyer, Raymond L. Thomas of McAllen, Texas, said in a telephone interview Sunday. "And the likelihood that these were Fast and Furious guns is certainly plausible."

Mexican authorities have announced nine arrests in the high-profile case. Among them was Jesus Rejon Aguilar, a Zetas cartel leader who was captured near Mexico City this month.

In Washington, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking information on the Zapata slaying.

It's beyond disturbing that the authorities will not give the Zapata family answers. The longer they do not do so, the more they implicate themselves.

h/t Free Republic

Video: Marco Rubio Schools Bob Schieffer

While appearing on Face the Nation, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is young enough to be Bob Shieffer's son, literally schooled the national CBS host when it came to talk about the debt ceiling. To be fair to Schieffer, he is on the side of having to defend the lies of the Obama administration and that's getting harder and harder to do. That said, Rubio masterfully exploited the untenable positions when it comes to arguments in favor of tax increases.

It sure would be nice to see this kind of rhetoric coming from the mouths of Republican leadership (Boehner and McConnell). The good news is that Rubio is clearly headed in that direction.

See for yourself.

Video: Jim DeMint's take on Debt Ceiling

Talk about two diametrically opposed Senators. I felt like I was watching good vs. evil. The vacant stare by Sen. Dick Durbin in this exchange is indicative of how clueless he is. Senator Jim DeMint is calling for a balanced budget amendment and is championing the 'cut, cap, and balance plan.' There is something so fundamentally lost on Democrats - unless they WANT to destroy the country - that is so simple for even the most intellectually bankrupt to understand. At some point, you have to stop spending more than you take in. They don't seem to be able to grasp the concept.

Durbin is either too stupid or too evil to understand it. Oh, was that too pejorative? Sorry, he deserves it.

Via MSNBC, h/t Hapblog:

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