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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Phone-Hacking Scandal Getting Closer to James Murdoch

The previous post has greater detail about why it may not be a bad thing for James Murdoch to be implicated in the NewsCorp scandal. This post is more about how much closer he seems to be to being ensnared by it. The big news yesterday was that Rupert Murdoch's right hand man, Les Hinton had been forced out after Rebekah Brooks went. Now, the big news is that Brooks has been arrested over her role in a scandal that involved the hacking of phones and voicemails.

The Guardian is reporting that Brooks' arrest appears to be an indicator that the younger Murdoch will soon be the subject of investigations.

The arrest of Rebekah Brooks in relation to phone hacking and corruption drags News Corporation deeper into crisis.

It must surely mean that the police investigation is edging closer to James Murdoch, who has been head of all News Corporation's businesses in Europe and Asia since 2007. He personally approved payments to civil litigants against the News of the World in settlement of their cases – deals that involved gagging clauses that appears to have prevented them discussing potential criminal activity in public.

There are two other important things to note from the arrest of Brooks. It is a personal blow for Rupert Murdoch, who had invested so much in the career of Brooks, promoting her though the Wapping ranks at lightening speed and describing her as the "daughter he never had." (he actually has four).

It must also set nerves on edge in Downing Street – only on Friday, it was revealed that David Cameron had hosted Brooks twice at Chequers, the only guest to be granted a second visit in his premiership. They also met socially over Christmas.

The leftwing media continues to lick its chops, smelling NewsCorp blood in the water; Rupert Murdoch is the target they simply cannot refrain from attacking. Unwittingly, they may be helping to sink Rupert's very leftwing son from taking the reigns.

Telegraph has more.

Left Needs to be Careful What it Wishes for in NewsCorp Scandal

It's been assumed for quite some time now that Rupert Murdoch's son, James Murdoch, is the heir apparent to the empire. At 80, Rupert's ability to lead the corporation is indeed increasingly finite. A disturbing reality prior to this scandal is the cozy relationship between James and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the same prince whose check was rejected by Rudy Guiliani in the days after 9/11. Increasingly, this scandal seems to be getting closer to James than it is to Rupert. The epicenter for the phone hacking scandal is in the UK.

In an article that appeared in the Guardian, significant doubt was raised about James Murdoch's ability to survive the scandal. Via The Guardian:

"The whole thing has been an absolute crisis management disaster," says the former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell. Max Clifford, another old hand at averting PR catastrophes, reflected an increasingly common view when he told this paper on Monday: "I get the feeling James Murdoch is out of his depth."

Last year, Diana West relayed another interesting quote from Alastair Campbell, who wrote about a visit James made to 10 Downing Street:

The elder “Murdoch was at one point putting the traditional very right-wing view on Israel and the Middle East peace process and James said that he was ‘talking f- nonsense.’ [Rupert] Murdoch said he didn’t see what the Palestinians’ problem was and James said that it was that they were kicked out of their f- homes and had nowhere to f- live,” Mr. Campbell recorded, adding that the News Corp. chairman was “very pro-Israel, very pro-Reagan.” ...

It would seem that the younger Murdoch may have a bit of a problem with anti-Semitism, which leads back to Saudi prince Talal, who appeared on Charlie Rose's show in January of 2010.

Here is an excerpt of bin Talal's interview with Charlie Rose:

CHARLIE ROSE: Is James Murdoch the successor to Rupert?

ALWALEED BIN TALAL: James is now managing Europe and Asia. And I don`t believe he appointed him yet, but frankly speaking, if he doesn`t appoint him, I`ll be the first one to nominate him to be the successor of Mr. Rupert Murdoch, god forbid if something happens to him.

CHARLIE ROSE: So he`s your candidate?

ALWALEED BIN TALAL: There`s no doubt, because I know him, I have full confidence in him, full trust in him, and he`s capable. He`s really Rupert Murdoch in the making, and he`s almost there now.

CHARLIE ROSE: That`s some kind endorsement coming from you.

ALWALEED BIN TALAL: No doubt. And I told Mr. Murdoch, if you don`t nominate him, I`ll nominate him, because, at the end of the day, Rupert Murdoch`s company is the only global company that covers over five continents.

There is growing sentiment that as this scandal explodes, James Murdoch could be one of its biggest casualties. In addition to Saudi Prince Talal standing to lose a substantial amount of wealth as the second largest shareholder at NewsCorp, he may have invested quite a bit into a future scenario in which James Murdoch takes over for Rupert.

There also seems to be a paper trail that allegedly includes cheques signed by James Murdoch that went to buying the silence of critics.

The Telegraph has more.