Videos: Hannity Digs into Fast and Furious

On Sean Hannity's August 19th television show, he aired two in-depth reports about the Fast and Furious scandal. The first clip focuses on the operation itself and how it worked / failed. It also seems to reach the conclusion that Holder and Obama were quite possibly involved. With what is known about who DID know about the operation (William Newell, David Voth, Dennis Burke, etc.), Eric Holder's direct subordinate - Lanny Breuer - is either being protected or is protecting Holder. The first video is a must-watch, especially toward the end when the chain of command is revealed. The second video focuses on the life and death of Brian Terry and what happened on the night he was killed. Both are very well done.

Via Fox News:

Part 1


Part 2

Chris Christie Believes in Man-Made Climate Change

New Jersey governor Chris Christie sent conservative hearts a flutter early on in his administration when he picked very public fights with teachers unions. Last month, he went off on anyone who questioned his appointment of an Islamist-sympathizer to a superior court judgeship in Passaic County. Now, Christie's conservative bonafides are dropping down yet another notch with his proclamation that man-made global warming (climate change) is a real threat. For the record, Islamists love it when westerners are distracted by the pseudo-threat of climate change; it takes our attention off of them.

Via NJ.com:

Christie's come full circle on the issue. Last year, he told a town hall audience in Toms River he was skeptical climate change is the result of human activity. He backed off those comments at a conference of environmentalists in May and agreed to meet with climate scientists for a lesson in global warming.

Later that month, during a news conference announcing he would pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a 10-state partnership intended to curb power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, Christie took another step.

"I can’t claim to fully understand all of this," he said. "Certainly not after just a few months of study. But when you have over 90 percent of the world’s scientists who have studied this stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role it’s time to defer to the experts."

He added that climate science is complex and "we know enough to know that we are at least part of the problem."

There is something definitely wrong here. The behavior of our top public officials is becoming increasingly surreal.

Christie's biggest supporter, Ann Coulter, was conspicuously silent after Christie's defense of Sohail Mohammed. I wonder if this will snap her out of her Christie crush. I'm guessing not.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Videos: Ya Think Sarah Palin is Going to Run?

Those who have gone on record saying that Sarah Palin is not going to run for president may change their minds after watching this from Sarah.pac. It may be that she wasn't sure if she'd run but if this video correctly captures what happens on the ground, she appears to be closer to jumping into the race. At this point, it doesn't look like she will be able to say no. Palin is definitely in her element when she's among the public. The liberal media has gone after Palin harder than anyone else. Yet, she seems to be the only one who doesn't wilt at all. If she does get into the race, look for a battle between her and the media that will dwarf anything we've seen so far.

There is a school of thought out there that Palin is too polarizing to win the general election but remember, in 2008, the only reason McCain came as close as he did was because Palin was on the ticket. Moreover, Obama's popularity today compared to then is exponentially smaller. Palin's is rising.

Ya think she's going to run? Via GWP:



Just to provide an interesting contrast, here is the Ron Paul Punk Rock Anthem. This guy is the libertarian's version of Barack Obama. The Ron Paul cult does exist and this song, though catchy, does demonstrate that. When 'Ron Paul' is repeated over and over again in the chorus, it should be a pretty good sign of how over-the-top his followers are. I will say this. The Ron Pauliens are more sane than the Obamautomatons but their cultish fervor for Paul is disturbing.

Via Daily Caller:

Awesome: Archbishop with Guts!

Newly appointed bishop for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, is going after the liberal media on its handling of religious issues, social issues, and even the Arab Spring. This is very refreshing to see from a Catholic leader. Frankly, it's in such short supply that the absence of such men in the Catholic church likely has something to do with why it gets such a bad rap. Pope Benedict XVI recently moved Chaput from the Archdiocese of Denver. If this was a promotion, it could help direct other bishops down a similar path. It would also demonstrate that the Pope endorses such assertiveness from Bishops.

Via CNS News:

The news outlets CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and MSNBC do not “provide trustworthy information about religious faith,” said Philadelphia’s incoming Archbishop, Charles Chaput, at the Catholic World Youth Day ongoing this week in Madrid, Spain.

Chaput, the former Archbishop of Denver, made his remarks in an address on religious freedom to a group of more than 10,000 young pilgrims in Madrid on Wednesday. As initially reported in First Things, Chaput told the audience that, “In the United States, our battles over abortion, family life, same-sex ‘marriage,’ and other sensitive issues have led to ferocious public smears and legal threats not only against Catholics, but also against Mormons, evangelicals, and other religious believers.”

“And with relatively few exceptions,” he said, “the mass media tend to cover these disputed issues with a combination of ignorance, laziness, and bias against traditional Christian belief.”

Then Chaput went after the liberal media for its coverage of and bias toward the Arab Spring:

Archbishop Chaput noted that the media gave a lot of coverage to the so-called “Arab Spring,” involving civil unrest in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. “But very little of that coverage has mentioned that the turmoil in Muslim countries has also created a very dangerous situation for Christians and other religious minorities across North Africa and the Middle East,” he said. “In Egypt, angry mobs have attacked Christian churches and monasteries, burning them to the ground and murdering the people inside.”

In addition, he said there has been widespread anti-Christian violence in Iraq, Syria, and Tunisia, but little news coverage of this in the U.S. media, adding that it is illegal to wear a crucifix or own a Bible in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, said the Archbishop, in Pakistan, “Christians face frequent discrimination, slander, beatings and even murder.”

It is long since overdue for Christians to stand up for themselves. Chaput - and perhaps the Pope - see it the same way.

Read it all.

Darrell Issa Making Progress if New York Times is Libeling him

As the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious continues to build quiet but very substantial momentum, the man at the tip of the spear in that investigation, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has a new badge of honor that should demonstrate he's on the right track. New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau published a hit piece on Issa that is so egregiously false, Issa has decided to go to the mat over it, demanding retractions from the New York Times. In fact, Issa's team has identified a total of 13 factual errors. One of those errors was Lichtblau's assertion that Issa's district office overlooks a golf course.

Here is a video shot from Issa's office that clearly shows there is no golf course in sight.



As for some of the other 12 errors, here is a taste of what Lichtblau did via Issa's website:

The New York Times story cites three central examples it believes justifies these allegations:

* A medical complex purchased by Rep. Issa in 2008 that the Times story alleges enjoyed a 60 percent appreciation as it increased in value from $10.3 million to $16.6 million, "at least in part because of the government-sponsored road work" that Rep. Issa supported.

* That he "went easy" on Toyota during 2010 hearings on unintended acceleration due to "his electronics company's role as a major supplier of alarms to Toyota."

* An alleged 1900 percent profit Rep. Issa's charitable foundation made on an investment of "less that $19,000" that was sold seven months later for $357,000 "months before the stock market crashed."

Ok, so that's what Lichtblau reported. Take a look at what Issa's office said in response:

*The medical complex the Times story alleges enjoyed a 60 percent appreciation since it was purchased for $10.3 million and is now valued at $16.6 million is a patently false claim. According to the buyer's final settlement statement, the property in question was not purchased for $10.3 million as the New York Times reported but for $16.6 million – the exact same figure of its current tax assessment. According to these numbers, the appreciation is not 60 percent but roughly zero. In addition, the government sponsored road work noted in the article has not even begun and Rep. Issa's requests for the project (which were publicly announced and made on behalf of and at the request of the City of Vista, and the San Diego Association of Governments which is the regional transportation planning authority) all came before the 2008 property purchase.

*The allegation that Rep. Issa "went easy" on Toyota during 2010 hearings because of "his electronics company's role as a major supplier of alarms to Toyota" is again an example of a factual error in the Times story that lends no support to the story's central premise. While the Times story tells readers that Rep. Issa's former company, Directed Electronics, is a "major supplier of alarms to Toyota," the story offers no evidence, and Directed Electronics is, in fact, not a supplier to Toyota. The New York Times also fails to note that Rep. Issa does not have a personal financial interest in Directed Electronics.

*The "1,900 percent" profit allegation is, again, based on reporting errors by the New York Times. This is assertion is based on an incorrect form obtained by the Times. According to a financial transaction record, the Issa Family Foundation's initial investment in the AIM Small Company fund was not $19,000 but $500,000. The asset was later sold for $375,000 resulting in a $125,000 loss – not a 1900 percent gain as was reported.

It's mighty coincidental that the New York Times is doing this to Darrell Issa at a time when the Oversight Committee chairman appears to have really dug into a scandal that is increasingly proving to reach all the way to Eric Holder at best and the White House at worst. Still, as Issa's team is mired in uncovering the details of that scandal, it decided it could not ignore Lichtblau's charges. No matter what the Times does in response to Issa, this appears to be one heck of a smack down.

It's safe to say that after throwing down the gauntlet with these apparently quite factual refutations, the ball is in Lichtblau's court. Will he and the Times double down or will it admit to libel by saying nothing?

Read it all. h/t Powerline