Here, you are urged and encouraged to run your mouths about something important.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

FBI LOOKING INTO DEATH OF SHIRLEY SHERROD'S FATHER

This is very interesting. If you've seen the entire 43 minute speech of Shirley Sherrod speaking in front of the NAACP, you watched her explain that her father - a black farmer - was shot and killed by a white farmer in 1965 and the case was never brought before a grand jury; justice was never done. If that's true, it is a travesty and a despicable part of America's past. Speaking of truth, it appears that there may be some good to come out of Breitbart's video. He may actually end up helping Shirley Sherrod as all of this attention has seemingly prompted the FBI to look into the 45 year-old case.

Sherrod's father was named Hosie Miller. His alleged killer was named Cal Hall, who died in 1976. The newspaper called the Albany Herald has published some very interesting details about the case.
Documents obtained through a Georgia Open Records Act request Friday show that Hall was charged at least three different times in connection with Miller's killing and each time the grand jury declined to prosecute.

Grace Miller, Hosie Miller's wife and Sherrod's mother, said Friday that she didn't know if the FBI had opened an investigation into her husband's killing.

"I hadn't heard that but, I think it would be a good thing if they did," Miller said. "But, then again, it won't bring him back and that was a long time ago."
Another interesting fact revealed in this article is that Shirley's mother - Grace Miller - said she was related, though distantly to Cal Hall.

Also, very noteworthy was this:
...on Jan. 25, 1966, Grace Miller, with the assistance of famed civil rights attorney C.B. King, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hall alleging that Hall shot Miller in the chest while in Miller's cow pasture off Route 2 in Newton on March 15, 1965. According to court documents Miller was seeking $330,00 to recover present and future lost wages, medical and funeral costs.

In his answer to Grace Miller's original complaint, Hall's attorney stated "the Defendant says that he is not indebted to the Plaintiff for any sum or amount for the reason that the killing by him of Plaintiff's husband was in self-defense."
The argument that Hall shot Miller in self-defense is quite the opposite of Shirley Sherrod's claim. It's made even less credible given the fact that Miller was shot on his own property. Suffice it to say that this entire controversy over the video of Sherrod being taken out of context appears to be ginning up interest in the stories she related during the entire speech.

As part of the investigation into the death of Miller, I am curious to know if Hall was a registered Democrat. If so, it would be another in a long line of examples in which the persecution of blacks by whites is firmly in the camp of this country's left, including the KKK being the armed wing of the Democrat party.

In any event, here's Shirley Sherrod's entire speech. The story about her father being shot and killed is early on so it's not necessary to view the entire video.



h/t to Free Republic

VIDEO: HIDDEN CAMERA LOOK INTO ILLEGAL ALIEN CROSSINGS

Hat Tip to Barrackaid #34. Keep 'em coming. It's one thing to know illegal immigration is going on. It's another to hear the issue debated; it's still another to see it up close, courtesy of hidden cameras. If you were not enraged by the absurd ruling from an Arizona judge this week regarding SB 1070, basically handcuffing police while sanctioning lawlessness, this video should get you there. If you're already there, watch it anyway; maybe it will get you mad enough to wake up that neighbor of yours who's more concerned about how his team's draft picks are looking in training camp.

Via Center for Immigration Studies (CIS):



Now that you're all lathered up, have a look at this news report from the Phoenix Fox affiliate. Protesters outside the Sheriff's office waving Mexican flags. Take note of the large Cuban flag featuring a prominent photo of cold-blooded killer and all-around scumbag, Che Guevara.

h/t to the Impeach Obama Campaign:

VIDEO: HEY AYATOLLAH! LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!

A group called 'Blurred Vision' has re-worked the Pink Floyd song, 'Another Brick in the Wall' and has made it a protest song against the Iranian regime. In fact, the group consists of two brothers who wish to remain anonymous for fear of what could happen to family members still in Iran. Pink Floyd's Roger Waters gave them rights to do the song; I must say, it is an excellent remake. The one downside might be that proceeds from the song are going to Amnesty International, an organization with a questionable past.

Then again, maybe this is a sign that some on the left may be waking up. If proceeds to AI end up being substantial, perhaps 'Blurred Vision' will demand an accounting of their efforts.

Either way, it's a 'must watch / listen'.



More at the Telegraph

Friday, July 30, 2010

VIDEO SHOCKER: OBAMA DRIVES TEN FEET IN A VOLT

How are Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, and Barack Obama different? Dukakis embarrassed himself while in a tank; Kerry shamed himself while he was in a space suit; and Barack Obama did so by driving one of the cars his company (GM) built, an astonishing ten feet. The three men were all similarly foolish. Dukakis's head gear did him in; Kerry's body wear made him look like a teletubby; and a better metaphor for the consequences of Obama's policies I could not imagine.

Watching Obama drive the soon-to-be infamous Volt ten feet reminded me of the ending scene of Gung Ho. Michael Keaton drove about as far as Obama did. In defense of Obammer, Keaton's wheels actually fell off. Other than that, little difference.

Good segue, huh?



C'mon, you know you see a similarity....



h/t to Hot Air

DHS EMAILS: ISLAMIC GROUPS SCOFF AT ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORTS

This one is disturbing on multiple levels, not the least of which are attempts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expect cooperation from groups like the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and others with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood would be allies in anti-terrorism efforts. Emails obtained by Judicial Watch and posted at World Net Daily reveal that Muslim representatives from these groups scoffed at DHS requests to aid in anti-terrorism efforts involving Islamic extremists.

Via World Net Daily:
The e-mails relate to several days of meetings the DHS held Jan. 27-28 between DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and various Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian "community leaders."

The e-mails reveal the attendees included Imad Hamad, the Midwest regional director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who Judicial Watch said has been linked in press reports to the Marxist-Leninist terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Judicial Watch reported he also "has financially supported the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah" and in a 2002 interview on Detroit television "supported a Palestine Authority TV program that urged children to become suicide bombers, calling the program 'patriotic.'"
One of the reported participants of the meeting mentioned above represented a group that pledged support for the Holy Land Foundation, a group convicted on over 100 counts relative to funding Islamic terrorism.
Another participant, according to Judicial Watch, was Salam al-Mayarati, who founded the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council. Judicial Watch said al-Mayarati "has long been criticized for his extremist views and statements. In 1999 former House Minority leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., withdrew his nomination of al-Mayarati to the National Commission on Terrorism because of al-Mayarati's extremist politics."
Click HERE for more on MPAC.

Perhaps the email containing the most explosive quotes is one that shows none other than Senator Joe Lieberman (D), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, was made aware of MPAC's refusal to cooperate with a DHS directive.
"Gordon Lederman of Sen. Lieberman's Staff called me asking about the 2-day HSAC meeting last week with American Muslim and Arab groups. He was called by a reporter who told him MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council), ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and Muslim American Society 'rejected the ideas' of soliciting their help with countering violent extremism and were 'angry and indignant.'"
This is beyond shocking. ISNA was an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial and has absolutely no business being anywhere close to working with DHS. The fact that the head of this country's Senate Homeland Security Committee is unwilling to call out these nefarious groups speaks volumes.

Read it all.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

RATIONAL CONSERVATISM AT........THE ROOT?

If you don't remember The Root, it got significant play last year during the controversy involving Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge police officer James Crowley, Barack Obama, and the White House beer summit. The Root is a blog that was founded by Gates, who posted about the controversy that erupted following his arrest by Crowley. Gates chimed in with a statement on the website he started. In the days after the incident, Gates gave his take.

Via Gates at The Root at the time.

Now we have an interesting post at The Root, courtesy of a writer named Sophia Nelson, a black woman who seems to get the Tea Party. The fact that she does so while writing for the site birthed by Henry Louis Gates warrants piqued interest. Check out what she has to say right out of the "gate":
As a black woman in America, I have remained largely silent about the Tea Party movement and whether the movement itself is ''racist,'' as it is being charged by many in our community, including the leadership of the NAACP.

As a community, we should take a step back for a moment and learn how to stop making emotional judgments and consider the facts about the Tea Party movement.
Nelson really seems to get it at the end, as she conveys to readers that regardless of how mistreated certain groups of people may feel, the ones who have the biggest beef with the Tea Party actually have the most in common with it:
The founders, all men of means (many of who owned slaves), risked their very lives and fortunes as ''traitors'' once they declared their "independence" from Great Britain in 1776. What I think we all miss is that the colonies rebelled against economic tyranny and oppression of individual freedom and liberties. This is a key takeaway that often gets lost in the modern Tea Party debate.

In the final analysis, I think we would all be wise to consider what Thomas Jefferson warned: "Every generation needs a new revolution." Does anyone among us really believe that government knows what is best for our lives? Does anyone among us really believe that paying more taxes will solve what is wrong with the poorest and least among us? Perhaps the African-American community needs to consider what we can do to secure our own economic wealth and our own individual liberties. Make no mistake -- we are in perilous times, and to sit by passively and do nothing in the face of such deprivation is against all that we as Americans stand for.
In addition to the column, I was also struck by the number of comments in support of Nelson.

I'd love to know if Henry Louis Gates is monitoring that blog of his.

h/t to Lynn Woolley for the Nelson piece.

MEMO PROVES WHITE HOUSE LOOKING AT AMNESTY VIA EXECUTIVE ORDER

The notion that the Obama administration was actually contemplating a bypass of congress in order to get the equivalent of comprehensive immigration reform seemed so outlandish, it actually got short shrift. Thanks to a memo penned by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, we now have proof that the word 'outlandish' would have been the wrong adjective for describing the White House's plans. The words in the memo, coupled with the actions of the Federal government toward Arizona leave no room for doubt on the objectives of this administration.

Via National Review:
According to an internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services memo going the rounds of Capitol Hill and obtained by National Review, the agency is considering ways in which it could enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action” — that is, without the consent of the American people through a vote in Congress.

“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to . . . reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” it reads.
Then, in true Obama administration fashion, when confronted with uncomfortable facts about what its opponents know, stonewalling ensues:
In recent weeks, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others in Congress have been pressing the administration to disavow rumors that a de facto amnesty is in the works, including in a letter to Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano. “Since the senators first wrote to the president more than a month ago, we have not been reassured that the plans are just rumors, and we have every reason to believe that the memo is legitimate,” a Grassley spokesman tells NR. (NR contacted DHS, but a spokesman did not have a comment on the record.)
It should be more apparent than ever that Congress has lost its backbone and its limp exoskeleton is being stomped on.

NRO also posted a portion of the USCIS response memo to inquiries about the leaked memo. Here is a portion of that response:
Internal memoranda help us do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected. Our goal is to implement policies wisely and well to strengthen all aspects of our mission.
Is it me or does that sound like a combination between the Journolist response to being outed as a repository for liberal hacks and the main argument of the Blagojevich defense team, that Blago may have white-boarded talk of extortion, bribes, blackmail, and corruption but he didn't mean it?

HERE is a link to the entire USCIS memo.

h/t to Free Republic

GLENN BECK SERIES ON WEATHER UNDERGROUND - WHERE IS GRATHWOHL?

On balance, when it comes to television, Glenn Beck is doing far more than anyone else to expose the radical agenda of the left. No one else is willing to dig as deep as he does. O'Reilly still has the culture warriors and games with cards on popsicle sticks; Hannity is better but how much is Bob Beckel really adding to the discussion with his repeated appearances? Besides, Beckel appears more interested in looking at himself on the off-screen monitor than in actually contributing anything substantive. Greta has gotten better in the last year but Beck has separated himself from all of them.

Beck is on-target about 90%-95% of the time. This week, we're witnessing part of that 5%-10% I'm afraid, relative to his three part series on the Weather Underground. The foundation for his series, designed to shine a light on the plans of the radicals in and around the White House is the Weather Underground's manifesto, right here:

Weather[1]

The problem with this series so far - only two of the three parts have aired as of this writing - is that the one man Beck should have with him on the set but hasn't even been mentioned is the only man to successfully infiltrate the Weather Underground for the FBI, Larry Grathwohl. That said, I have it on good authority that Grathwohl has not been contacted to this point and it is highly unlikely that he will appear.

Beck's decision not to incorporate a live appearance by Grathwohl into this series is made all the more curious by the fact that we know Beck is well aware of Grathwohl; he aired the shocking two minute clip of him from 1982 back on June 10th of this year. Here is a video portion of that segment:



A subsequent appearance by Grathwohl never came, though I know he would be willing to make that appearance.

The intent of this series is obviously to take viewers inside the motives of Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Jeff Jones, and Mark Rudd. What did they have planned? What were they like when they were being themselves? What things did they say before they had been "made clean", as Beck likes to say, so they would appear upstanding? With the manifesto in his hands, Beck has a window into that world but Grathwohl was INSIDE that world; no one else shares his experience. Why on earth would Beck not have him on the set LIVE as an integral part of this series?

There are, no doubt, aspects of that manifesto that Beck either might get wrong or not explain completely enough. Grathwohl can do that too.

As a last bone of contention for me, Beck held up a copy of the Weather Underground's book, "Prairie Fire" for the audience to see and no one can sell books better than Glenn Beck. I'm sure he sold quite a few of them by displaying it and discussing it for his audience. Bill Ayers is quite the wealthy terrorist these days and I'm sure he loved the plug. On the other hand, Grathwohl has a book too - though you'd never know it. Beck never mentioned it.

Grathwohl is the hero and Ayers is the villain. Why wouldn't Beck hold up Grathwohl's book for the audience to see? Why wouldn't he place him in a chair on the set for the audience to see and hear?

Here is the full two minute clip of Grathwohl in 1982.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

VIDEO: WIKILEAKS FOUNDER IMPLICATES WHITE HOUSE

The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange made an explosive charge during an interview with Fox's Andrew Napolitano, saying that he presented the documents relative to the war in Afghanistan, to the White House prior to releasing them but got no response. In predictable fashion, the White House denied it - as they do virtually everything else. When clarity was sought from Assange, he indicated that the New York Times served as an intermediary between the two.

If true, it would mean that the Obama administration was aware that these documents might get released but did nothing pre-emptively to stop it. In light of the revelations this week that the White House also looked the other way when it came to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Obama should explain himself.

Was this a crisis that was to be exploited by the White House, as a reason to justify the internet kill switch legislation Joe Lieberman is sponsoring?

If Assange is telling the truth, this is a big deal.

Via Impeach Obama Campaign:

ARIZONA JUDGE SELLS OUT HER STATE

On one level, what did you expect? She was appointed by Bill Clinton, the man who pardoned two Weather Underground members at the end of his term. On another level, the left continues to be more interested in destroying this country than in saving it. What happened in Arizona today is no exception. The judge in this case will not be the final word. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has called it a 'speed bump' and it is certainly going to be appealed.

The larger issue is the fact that as a consequence of U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's ruling, police officers will not be permitted to check the immigration status of individuals arrested for the commission of non-immigration related crimes. William Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection is apoplectic over that one. He writes in a blog post titled 'Helplessness and Anarchy':
The inability of a state to implement a policy of checking the immigration status even of people already under arrest for some other crime is remarkable.

While I cannot blame the Judge for striking some provisions of S.B. 1070 (particularly those creating independent criminal sanctions), the ruling as to checking the status of people already under arrest is mind-numbing.
Jacobson is more than qualified to chime in on the matter; he is an Associate clinical Professor of Law at Cornell.

That's what makes the end of his post so enraging:
With a federal government which refuses to take action at the border until there is a deal on "comprehensive" immigration reform, meaning rewarding lawbreakers with a path to citizenship, this decision will insure a sense of anarchy. The law breakers have been emboldened today, for sure.

As it stands this afternoon, it is perfectly rational for someone faced with the choice of obeying the immigration laws or not, to choose not to do so. The choice of lawlessness makes a lot more sense than spending years winding through the byzantine legal immigration system, because the end result will be the same but lawlessness gets you here more quickly.

When the law and the federal government reward lawlessness, something is very wrong.
The absurdity of this judge's ruling is right in line with the absurdity we've seen ad-nausea um courtesy of the Obama administration but that doesn't make it any less absurd. This ruling by Bolton actually emboldens illegal aliens to break the law more than did conditions before the law was passed. We have Barack Obama, Eric Holder, and tangentially Bill Clinton to thank.

More at the Wall Street Journal.

BRITAIN'S NEW PRIME MINISTER PROVES HE'S CLUELESS

For those hoping that Britain's new Prime Minister, David Cameron would be an improvement over the leftwing incompetent Gordon Brown, one look at his behavior in Turkey will show he may actually be worse. Cameron is billed as a conservative but when it comes to understanding the Islamic threat to the west, he's clueless. Ironically, he's doing so by being an appeasement advocate, calling for Turkey to be allowed entry into the European Union. In so doing, he has alienated European nations who oppose that absurd notion by painting them as 'prejudiced'.

As a result, he epitomizes what Winston Churchill thought of appeasers:
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Cameron is attempting to cozy up to a regime that has become all but Islamist while pointing the finger at neighboring western countries who oppose Turkey's entry into the EU.

Some westerners were hoping against hope that a "conservative" Cameron would usher in policies that reminded people of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Quite the contrary, Cameron's speech in Turkey demonstrates his name doesn't belong in the same sentence as those two former leaders - sorry for doing it.

Here's an excerpt of Cameron's speech via Barry Rubin at Pajamas Media:
Turkey’s relationships in the region, both with Israel and with the Arab world, are of incalculable value. No other country has the same potential to build understanding between Israel and the Arab world. I know that Gaza has led to real strains in Turkey’s relationship with Israel. But Turkey is a friend of Israel. And I urge Turkey, and Israel, not to give up on that friendship.

Let me be clear. The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable. And I have told PM Netanyahu, we will expect the Israeli inquiry to be swift, transparent and rigorous. Let me also be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change. Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.

But as, hopefully, we move in the coming weeks to direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians so it’s Turkey that can make the case for peace and Turkey that can help to press the parties to come together, and point the way to a just and viable solution.
That "attack" on the Gaza flotilla was anything but. Besides, that flotilla had the backing of Hamas, Hezbolla, the IHH, and the Free Gaza Movement, which is supported by Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Cameron is placing himself on the side of the enemy with words like this.

As for Cameron's alienation of his neighbors - he doesn't just go to the front of the crocodile feeding line. He covers those neighbors in meat sauce before throwing them in the river by painting them as racists toward Islam:
The prejudiced. Those who willfully misunderstand Islam. They see no difference between real Islam and the distorted version of the extremists. They think the problem is Islam itself. And they think the values of Islam can just never be compatible with the values of other religions, societies, or cultures.
Again, one needs only to refer to the words of Churchill to refute Cameron, a man who would surely repulse Churchill (sorry, I did it again). In the words of Sir Winston in 1899:
"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.

The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."
Interestingly, at the time Churchill wrote these words in 1899, the Ottoman Empire was the center of the Islamic world and was based in what is today known as Turkey.

Read Rubin's entire piece.

Also, more at the Telegraph

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

TEXAS: RICK PERRY IN REZKO-LIKE LAND DEAL?

Rick Perry sold some property in 2007 and did quite well with it, turning a healthy profit. Nothing wrong with that, right? It's the American way. It's capitalism at work, right? It is, unless it's the result of political friends, favors, and back scratching. Perry bought the property from a Republican state Senator, named Troy Fraser.

The Dallas Morning News highlights some questionable details surrounding both the purchase price Perry paid in 2003 as well as what the property sold for in 2007:
At the center of the dispute is a gently sloping, half-acre grassy lot on the shore of Lake Lyndon B. Johnson in the Texas Hill Country resort of Horseshoe Bay. The resort is owned by Doug Jaffe, whose family has long, deep and sometimes controversial ties to Texas politics.

Jaffe's company had sold the parcel to state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, a friend and political ally of Perry's. Fraser sold the lot to Perry for just above $300,000.

An appraiser hired by The News determined that the land actually was worth $450,000 when Perry bought it.
On its face, that is at least mildly reminiscent of the Obama / Rezko land deal in which the former paid $300,000 less for a mansion than its worth while Rezko paid the asking price for an adjacent lot. There was also a subsequent - even more suspicious - deal in which the Obamas purchased a sliver of Rezko's lot, rendering the Rezko property useless.

But I digress. How about the price Perry sold the property for in 2007?
Perry sold the property in 2007 to Alan Moffatt, a British national who is a business partner and close associate of Jaffe's....

...He paid Perry $1.15 million for the parcel. The News' appraiser, who has decades of experience in Horseshoe Bay real estate, found that price to be $350,000 above market value.
Doing some quick math here, if Perry saved $150,000 on the purchase and made an additional $350,000 on the sale of the property, he potentially benefitted more than he should have to the tune of $500,000. If you run the numbers according to the reported appraisals, Perry would have bought the property for approximately $450,000 and sold it for around $800,000 which would have yielded a $350,000 profit. Every day, law-abiding citizens would be thrilled with that. If this deal is as it appears, Perry wasn't.

Read it all.

VIDEO: JOHN KERRY EVADES REPORTERS ON YACHT CONTROVERSY

If Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (D) was planning to avoid paying nearly $500,000 in sales tax on the purchase of his yacht by leaving it moored in Rhode Island, where he would be able to avoid the tax, it looks like he will have a more difficult time doing so now that it's becoming a public relations disaster for him. Of course, politicians have an answer for everything. The question is how many people will believe his claim that he's not trying to get out of paying taxes; he's concerned about long term care for the yacht, which apparently can be better administered in Rhode Island.

Via Fox Boston:
If the "Isabel" were docked at the couple's summer vacation home on Nantucket, they would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. They'd also have to pay $70,000 in annual excise taxes. Instead, Rhode Island has repealed those taxes.

A Kerry spokesman says the boat is being kept at Newport Shipyard not for tax reasons, but "for longterm maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes."
I guess, in fairness to Kerry, $437,500 can buy a lot of maintenance.

Fox Boston is now reporting that Kerry may still be liable for the tax because "Isabel" was docked in Massachusetts for a short time within six months of purchase.

Here is the video of Kerry being confronted by reporters about the controversy. The quote of the exchange is the last one:

"Can we get out of here please?"

OIL IN GULF DISAPPEARING. WILL OBAMA TAKE CREDIT?

It appears the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is shrinking and those charged with cleaning up the mess are at a loss to explain why. Some have suggested the oil is beneath the surface, though that would be a curious happenstance since oil floats when mixed with water. We could be seeing how powerful mother nature - created by God - can be. It appears the oil is evaporating as it disperses the farther away it moves from the spill site.

VIa ABC News:
The numbers don't lie: two weeks ago, skimmers picked up about 25,000 barrels of oily water. Last Thursday, they gathered just 200 barrels.

Still, it doesn't mean that all the oil that gushed for weeks is gone. Thousands of small oil patches remain below the surface, but experts say an astonishing amount has disappeared, reabsorbed into the environment.

"[It's] mother nature doing her job," said Ed Overton, a professor of environmental studies at Louisiana State University.
This explanation makes as much sense as anything else:
The oil that did make it to the ocean's surface was broken up by 88-degree water, baked by 100-degree sun, eaten by microbes, and whipped apart by wind and waves.
Considering we have a president who has a big problem accepting responsibility and no problem at all taking credit, Vegas should take bets on how long it will take him to champion his mastery of the clean-up.

Then again, this might make his argument for the drilling moratorium even more ridiculous.

h/t to Drudge

Monday, July 26, 2010

LEONARD PITTS ON 9/11 THEN VS. NOW

Leonard Pitts, columnist for the Miami Herald is the quintessential microcosm of America's memory problem. On September 12th, 2001, he wrote a column for the ages. He encapsulated exactly what Americans were feeling. His column was widely distributed and any patriot would agree with his sentiment. His words served to galvanize a badly wounded people - Americans who were shocked, angry, and resolute. All they needed was a leader to put a face on the enemy and yell 'charge'.

Even Pitts seemed open to that idea at the time. He put it perfectly, in what amounted to an open letter to those who attacked us:
You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.
That was then, though. Today, Pitts has quite a different take when it comes to a 13-story Mosque billed as the "Cordoba House", being built near ground zero.

Less than nine years later, Pitts has no problem with it. On September 12th, Pitts championed the outrage of Americans, calling it "righteous". In 2010, he mocks it, implying it's intolerant:
And the outrage burns like jet fuel, the argument billows like choking dust, the questions lacerate like flying glass: Is it right, is it decent, is it morally defensible, for developer Sharif El-Gamal of SoHo Properties to build a Muslim worship center called Cordoba House within walking distance of the place where Muslim men, acting from a perverse distortion of their religion, disintegrated thousands of lives -- Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and, we may presume, others?
This is exactly what the enemy was attempting to do on 9/11 - hit us hard enough to shock us and then lull us back to sleep, all the while convincing us that they weren't really the enemy. That strategy appears to have worked on Pitts; he has shifted his indignation and anger away from the enemy America's leaders wouldn't name then and toward those he pledged solidarity with one day after we were hit.

Again, Pitts writing to the enemy in the form of a column on September 12, 2001:
Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement.

We are fundamentally decent,though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us,people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.
Notice how Pitts then was willing to overlook our racial differences in pursuit of solidarity against a much bigger threat. Today, it's apparently the opposite with Pitts.
Are Muslims not Americans, too? Is that what we're saying now?
Yes, I fear terrorism. But I find I fear even more what my country has become in response to it -- a nation where a rabbi (!) can blandly condemn someone, not for his own crimes but for the crimes of some of his tribesmen.

So yes, putting that building in that place might be painful and provocative, but it would also be a reminder of the very values the terrorists sought to kill. And we seem to need that reminder more everyday.

They want to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero? Let them.
Quite the dichotomy. It appears that Leonard Pitts has been snookered.

h/t to Barrackaid #30 for the most recent Pitts column.

Read Pitts THEN and NOW.

VIDEO: SHIRLEY SHERROD'S HUSBAND A RACIST?

It would seem that Charles Sherrod, husband of the - as the liberal media puts it - unfairly treated Shirley Sherrod is caught on video deriding whites and 'Uncle Toms' as thieves to be demonized. This is what Rush Limbaugh means when he calls the NAACP the NAALCP. It is a group that is interested in furthering the cause of black liberals at the expense of and without regard for black conservatives. Look no further than Clarence Thomas.

This is the same Charles Sherrod who was a senior member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a group with ties to Bill Ayers in the 1960's.

Andrew Breitbart needs to follow the example of Cambridge police officer, James Crowley. There should be no apology forthcoming. Something tells me that Obama will lose this battle as well if Breitbart refuses to give in.

Via Riehl World View:

Sunday, July 25, 2010

YAWN: ANOTHER OBAMA LIE - RELEASE OF LOCKERBIE BOMBER

This time it has to do with what the White House knew about the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, convicted of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. When al-Megrahi was released in August of 2009, it was under the pretense that he was sick with cancer and wouldn't be alive today. Since then, doctors have conceded that he might live for another ten years or more. At the time, the Obama White House was indignant over his release, saying it was a 'mistake'.

Via the London Telegraph then:
The US government condemned the decision to release him, as did US relatives of some of the victims of the 1988 atrocity.

One US Senator said that by releasing Megrahi, Scottish ministers had increased the threat of international terrorism, and internet campaigners threatened a US boycott of Scottish products.

Mr Obama said: "We have been in contact with the Scottish government, indicating that we objected to this, and we thought it was a mistake."
Now the Australian is reporting that the Obama administration supported the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber over sending him to a Libyan prison:
Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison.

The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.

The document, acquired by a well-placed US source, threatens to undermine US President Barack Obama's claim last week that all Americans were "surprised, disappointed and angry" to learn of Megrahi's release.
Translation: Joe Wilson is right again.

VIDEO: THE JOURNOLIST MOVIE

I don't believe I've ever seen the inherently evil hypocrisy of liberalism exposed so stunningly in less than one minute. Every one of the quotes and attributes this man - portraying a liberal - claims as his own in this film were pulled directly from the listserv known as JourNolist, a creation of far left whack job at the Washington Post, Ezra Klein. Liberals espouse non-violence but that only applies when you agree with them. The abortion debate is the prime example but have a look at this smackdown.

Via Hope for America

VAN JONES CHIMES IN ON SHIRLEY SHERROD CONTROVERSY

Talk about dis-ingenuousness. This is revisionist history on steroids. None other than Van Jones has written an op-ed for the New York Times and in it, he attempts to ride the coattails of the Shirley Sherrod controversy, comparing her plight to his. While he does point to differences between their stories, placing her on a slightly higher pedestal, the gall of the comparison is striking as Jones implies that he was the victim of a smear campaign based on a swear word and a 9/11 conspiracy petition on which his name was listed as a signatory.

Via the New York Times:
Last year I, too, resigned from an administration job, after I uttered some ill-chosen words about the Republican Party and was accused — falsely — of signing my name to a petition being passed around by 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Partisan Web sites and pundits pounced, and I, too, saw my name go from obscurity to national infamy within hours.
Isn't it convenient how Jones makes no mention of his avowed communism, his ties to a radical group called STORM, his support of cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, his quote about dropping the radical pose for radical ends, and countless other anti-American stances / views.

It should be clear that the left and the Obama administration is getting very concerned about the power of the alternative media. Just take a look at this argument from Jones:
Life inside the Beltway has become a combination of speed chess and Mortal Kombat: one wrong move can mean political death. In the era of YouTube, Twitter and 24-hour cable news, nobody is safe. Even the lowliest staff member knows that an errant comment could wind up online, making her name synonymous with scandal.

The result is that people at all levels of government are becoming overly cautious, unwilling to venture new opinions or even live regular lives for fear of seeing even the most innocuous comment or photograph used against them, all while trying to protect and improve the country.

The victims aren’t just government employees — the public as well is hurt. The imperative to immediately and constantly churn out news on even the most minor bit of controversy leads news organizations, and partisans posing as news organizations, to cross the line from responsible reporting to dangerous rumor-mongering.
Something tells me Beck will be reading this op-ed and responding to it tomorrow.

Read it all.

VIDEO: OBAMA'S BRAND OF CHRISTIANITY

Welcome to Black Liberation Theology. Whether you're talking about wealth re-distribution, collective salvation over individual salvation, or taking from the haves and giving to the have nots, one theme is consistent. BLT is not about forgiveness or redemption. It is about vendettas, payback, and racial hatred. Ain't it ironic that the notion of taking that which belongs to others and giving it to someone else is at the heart of Saul Alinsky's teachings?

It can never be overstated that Alinsky - Obama's ideological mentor - dedicated his work to Lucifer himself.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There are two passages from Scripture that fly in the face of BLT. One is John 12: 1-6 and the other is Matthew 25: 14-30.

Via Naked Emperor:

ACORN WHISTLE BLOWER FILING FEC SUIT AGAINST OBAMA

I have become increasingly jaded when it comes to the potential for justice to be done when it involves politicians being caught and held accountable for egregious lawbreaking. Charlie Rangel notwithstanding, former ACORN employee turned whistle blower Anita Moncrief, likely has an uphill battle on her hands when she files FEC charges against Barack Obama relative to his 2008 campaign. She appears to have the goods on Obama but supposedly, so did Blagojevich. As an aside, note that not only did Blago decide not to take the stand but also not required to testify were Tony Rezko, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, or Obama; the defense rested after two days.

But I digress. Anita Moncrief has released donor lists that contain the names of people who donated to the Obama campaign in 2008. She claims that Obama's people gave the lists to ACORN so the community organization could get them to donate again, despite already giving the maximum amount.

Moncrief has a new website called Emerging Corruption. On it, she has posted a 700+ page document, containing thousands of names of people / entities who had already donated to the campaign. In 2008, Moncrief was working with a New York Times reporter named Stephanie Strom and provided this and other information to Strom.
As a confidential source for the New York Times, I turned this document over to reporter Stephanie Strom months before the 2008 presidential elections and though the list includes information more complete than what the Obama campaign turned over to the Federal Election Commission, the NYT decided to bury the story.
In light of the JourNolist scandal, which proved that the New York Times itself had people on the listserv that collaborated and conspired to control the news, what happened next, when viewed through that prism, says quite a bit. In fact, it should be considered criminal all by itself. Strom emailed Moncrief in the days leading up to the 2008 election. Here is a portion of that email:
“I’m calling a halt to my efforts. I just had two unpleasant calls with the Obama campaign, wherein the spokesman was screaming and yelling and cursing me, calling me a rightwing nut and a conspiracy theorist and everything else…”
I don't know about you but these attempts to control the media by the Obama campaign are eerily reminiscent of what Rod Blagojevich tried to do with the Chicago Tribune. Also, remember what Blago told his Chief of Staff John Harris when talking about Obama and Rezko, another huge fundraiser:

"(Obama's) more Tony'd up than I am."

Be sure to read it all.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

VIDEO: LUKE RUSSERT SLAMS CHARLIE RANGEL

Former head of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel has done the impossible. He's done something so egregious that the Democrats appear to be willing to throw him under the bus. Not only that but he is held accountable in this exchange by an NBC reporter - Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert. I am not that familiar with the younger Russert's work but based on what I've been reading, he leans strongly to the left.

You wouldn't know it here, though. He gets under Rangel's skin so much that the congressman from New York actually accuses the network Russert works for as being an illegitimate news source.

Welcome to the club, Charlie.



And here's the added bonus of Rangel telling Jason Mattera to mind his "G**D**N" business. I just knew this would have staying power.



h/t to Free Republic

VAN JONES IS BACK WITH MORE ABSURD RHETORIC

Talk about a different perspective. As the Obama administration continues to attack the private sector, former White House Green Jobs czar, Van Jones is publicly advocating an increased dose. Under Obama, the United States is seeing record deficits. Van Jones's solution? Take the money from big companies. Jones is no longer in the Obama administration but he is still over at John Podesta's Center for American Progress, which seems to be a primary source for policy ideas at the White House.

Via the Daily Caller:
“This is a rich country. We have plenty of money, and if you don’t believe me, ask Haliburton,” Jones told a group of progressive bloggers and activists at the Netroots Nation convention Friday. “There’s plenty of money out there; don’t fall into the trap of this whole deficit argument.”

“The only question is how to spend it,” he added.
I found this particular quote rather interesting as well...
“I can’t stand it,” Jones said of criticism of Obama from the Left. “President Obama volunteered to be the captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.”
They're really getting all the mileage they can out of that "Blame Bush" strategy, aren't they.

Read it all.

Friday, July 23, 2010

VIDEO: LATEST GROUND ZERO MOSQUE AD

If you don't understand the root problem people have with the mosque at ground zero after watching this ad from Frank Gaffney's group, you may be a lost cause. Make no mistake; this mosque is the latest in a long line of symbols of Islamic conquests. It is meant to signify victory over the west. The city of Cordoba, Spain - the name given to this Ground Zero mosque is one such example. Once conquered by Muslims, the huge Christian cathedral in that city was converted to a mosque.

Hence, the name of the mosque slated for construction at Ground Zero - the Cordoba House.



h/t to HAPBLOG

REVEALED: ALVIN GREENE'S MILITARY RECORD

h/t to Barrackaid #34 on this one. We knew South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene (D) served thirteen years in the military but not much else - kind of like what we know about Obama and Columbia University. Well, now we know why Alvin wasn't too excited about releasing that military record. After reading excerpts from various appraisals, the one comment that comes to mind is, 'works well under constant supervision'. This guy's story is really unmatched when you talk about how inexplicable it is.

Via the AP:
The records, which document his superiors' decisions to pass over Greene for promotion, cite mistakes as severe as improperly uploading sensitive intelligence information to a military server, and as basic as an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks.
How about this gem?
At his home in Manning on Thursday, Greene told an AP reporter who reviewed the documents with him that the evaluations show he was discriminated against by military supervisors but he did not explain what that meant.

"I'm telling you who they promote: the terrorists and the communists," said Greene, wearing a blue U.S. Air Force T-shirt. "This is why we need to overhaul the military and get these people out."
Oh, and just to prove I wasn't exagerating about that 'constant supervision' remark....
Greene is "usually capable of handling mundane tasks with supervision" but is "not able to adapt to any changes to daily routine," the reviewer wrote, also noting that Greene had received multiple disciplinary actions for failing to perform his duties.
Anyone who votes for this guy really should consider not ever voting again.

Here is a must-see video on America's most infamous candidate. I'm not sure what message is being communicated with the constant clips of LeBron James but.......



h/t to Hot Air for video

Thursday, July 22, 2010

SHIRLEY SHERROD'S CONNECTION TO BILL AYERS?

As the liberal media continues to push the narrative that Shirley Sherrod was smeared by Andrew Breitbart, the blogs, talk radio, and Fox News, all of the aforementioned entities need to stand strong because Sherrod has more in her background that needs to be examined. As part of that examination, questions need to be answered about her husband's ties to a group Bill Ayers was involved with as well as the circumstances surrounding a lawsuit Shirley was involved in that was won by a group called New Communities days before she was announced as Georgia Director for Rural Development.

First up, the Bill Ayers connection. Teri O'Brien at the Illinois Review points out an interesting connection between a group Charles Sherrod belonged to and one Ayers belonged to, both in the 1960's.
...Ms. Sherrod’s husband is a former honcho in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee back in the 1960’s. You can read more about it in Bill Ayers book “Fugitive Days.” Yes, that Bill Ayers. He was involved in SNCC as well.
Ayers belonged to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) before breaking away to form the much more violent Weather Underground. Both had the same goals, just different means.

Here is one of the relevant excerpts from "Fugitive Days":
The Community Union was part of a joint national strategy of SDS and SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the beginnings of a shift away from attacking the legal barriers to integration largely in the South, now mostly in retreat, toward organizing around de facto segregation and economic injustice everywhere. Our focus was on building a powerful force of poor people in big northern cities—the grassy grass roots, we called them—who could not only change their own lives but could change the world.
Be sure to go to the above link because there's more. Interestingly, it was all about forming an alliance to engage in Alinsky-styled Community Organizing.

Now how about that lawsuit. Tom Blumer at the Washington Examiner tells us all about some interesting circumstances just prior to the hiring of Shirley Sherrod on July 25th, 2009. As a member of the Rural Development Leadership Network, the announcement of Shirley's new job within the USDA was announced on the group's website:
RDLN Graduate and Board Vice Chair Shirley Sherrod was appointed Georgia Director for Rural Development by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on July 25. Only days earlier, she learned that New Communities, a group she founded with her husband and other families (see below) has won a thirteen million dollar settlement in the minority farmers law suit Pigford vs Vilsack.
Not only that but the lawsuit itself seems to have had some reparations overtones to it.

The lawsuit won by the Sherrods was part of a class action, known as "the Pigford case". Their group, New Communities, was the beneficiary of what the RDLN website calls, "...the largest award so far in the minority farmers law suit (Pigford vs. Vilsack).

A Must read from Tom Blumer at Washington Examiner because it appears that more people are benefitting from the Pigford case than should be. It may be the gift that keeps on giving to those who know how to take advantage of it.

The much bigger issue involves what the leftwing media and the White House want to happen. They want to smear Breitbart as someone who took a video out of context to destroy Sherrod. The last thing in the world anyone in the conservative media should do is apologize for this episode. The video of Sherrod at the NAACP banquet is damaging to both her and the NAACP, even when viewed in its entirety.

The conservative media needs to follow the example set by Cambridge police officer James Crowley. He refused to apologize and Henry Louis Gates - as well as Obama - surrendered via the "beer summit". If Crowley would have apologized, Gates would have been victorious and Obama's contention that the "Police acted stupidly" would have been justified. The same should apply here. Conservatives need to remain on offense with Shirley Sherrod, Obama, and the Liberal Media. There appears to be much more to Shirley Sherrod than meets the eye.

h/t to Gateway Pundit

MUST SEE VIDEO: THE TALKING FEDS

This one may just rival that Hide the Decline video from last Christmas, which incidentally consisted of a polar bear wearing a graduation cap. As far as this guy's voice matching that of David Byrne, you can't get much closer. Weird Al Yankovic could be getting worried. Robert Gibbs kicks it off with his patented stammering.

'Same as it Ever Was'



h/t to Hot Air

AUDIO: BLACK PANTHER LEADER BUSTED AS RACIST

By now, we've all seen the video of King Samir Shabazz at the Philadelphia polling station wielding a night stick and then on video in January of 2009 telling blacks to 'kill some crackers' and 'kill their babies'. The other Black Panther at the polling station - Jerry Jackson - once had posted on his MySpace page that 'killing crakkkas' was one of his general interests. Now we have audio from none other than New Black Panther Party Chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, who recorded a song called, 'Amerikkka's Most Hated.'

Big h/t to Verum Serum, which has the audio. **BIG LANGUAGE WARNING**.

Here are the lyrics:
Black Power crackers
Black Power ni**ers
Negroes, political prostitutes, bi**hes and hoes

What kind of teaching I’m following?
The kind of teaching that got my picture in the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance
_
You pigs beat a ni**er down in Inglewood
But we f**ked up your Pentagon filled with crackers and peckerwoods
_
The Al Qaeda comparative true to life now
Cracker, I’m a terrorist
Bin Laden might look alike
I ain’t losing no sleep at night
_
In Cincinnati, we got to burn that s**t
And snatch crackers out of cars
Too many young black brothers locked behind bars
For killing one of us
So why not bust on the true terrorists
The American cracker devil police officer
I think it's pretty safe to say that all three Black Panthers who were on the wrong end of the voter intimidation lawsuit that got dismissed are racists. Based on the defense of his group after the video of King Samir was released, it's also safe to say that Malik Zulu Shabazz is a liar.

More at Verum Serum.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

BIG STINK: BLAGOJEVICH TEAM RESTS CASE AFTER TWO DAYS

Great news for Obama. Not only has Blagojevich decided not to testify in his trial - going back on what he has been saying ever since he was arrested - but his attorneys have decided to rest their case little more than two days into their defense. Individuals who will not take the stand include Tony Rezko, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and Blagojevich himself. All along, Blago has maintained his innocence and insisted he would take the stand.

Via The Hill:
The White House appears to have avoided any major entanglement in the Blagojevich trial.

None of the officials who were expected to testify will take the stand as witnesses for the former governor's defense.
This whole episode seems more than just a little fortuitous for the White House.

More at the Chicago Tribune

OBAMA BUDDY WANTS TO NAME GAZA BOAT AUDACITY OF HOPE

Remember Rashid Khalidi, Obama's buddy from Columbia University, who wants worked for an arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization? Do you remember when the L.A. Times refused to release a video in its possession that showed Obama at a banquet with Khalidi in 2003? Yeah, that Rashid Khalidi. Now we learn that Khalidi has signed onto an appeal for funds to subsidize a boat and its crew for the purpose of breaking Israel's Gaza blockade.

The name given to the boat? Audacity of Hope.

Via the Washington Post:
Rashid Khalidi, a friend of President Obama's active in Palestinian causes, has signed an appeal for funds to send to Gaza an aid ship that would be named after the president's best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope."

A group calling itself U.S. Boat to Gaza is seeking $370,000 in the next month to send the ship in an effort to thwart the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian enclave controlled by the militant group Hamas.
To refresh your memories on the incident before the 2008 election involving the L.A. Times suppressing the Obama / Khalidi video, click HERE.

As for the latest story, read it all.

h/t to Jawa Report

VIDEO: GLENN BECK'S DEFENSE OF SHIRLEY SHERROD

I must say, this is one of those moments when Glenn Beck shines. On July 19th, a two and a half minute video clip of then Georgia Director of Rural Development, Shirley Sherrod, surfaced on the internet. In it, she is speaking at an NAACP Awards Banquet last March and relays a story about how she didn't help a white farmer as much as she could have because of his skin color. Within hours of the video going viral, Sherrod was forced to resign her position within the USDA.

It appeared to many - myself included - that this was an open and shut case of racism. But was it? Sherrod went on CNN and explained how she was relating a twenty year old story that helped open her eyes and see things differently. Bolstering her claim was the fact that the wife of the farmer she is seen discussing in the speech publicly supports her for having helped them.

Interestingly, the NAACP, which originally supported the decision to force Sherrod out, issued a statement in the wake of these new revelations saying they were "snookered" by Andrew Breitbart and Fox News. Rather than accepting responsibility or admitting a mistake was made, the NAACP blames others for jumping to conclusions itself. It's just simply too difficult for leftwing bodies to admit making mistakes or being wrong.

A very interesting dynamic may be at work here. A black woman is rejected by a black organization and publicly shamed but the two people who most come to her defense are Glenn Beck - the left's most despised personality on Fox - and the white farmer's wife.

One last thing before watching this video segment with Beck. Regardless of Sherrod's innocence or guilt, based on its own standards set forth in the NAACP resolution, calling the Tea Party movement racist, the NAACP should have to answer for the crowd's apparent audible support of Sherrod's tale of discrimination before they knew it was a tale of enlightenment.



h/t to Hot Air

WRITERS AT JOURNOLIST WANTED TO BAN FOX NEWS

For the second day in a row, the Daily Caller has released explosive and damaging posts from liberal / independent writers who belonged to the listserv, JourNolist, started by the Washington Post's Ezra Klein. This time, we see one of them - Sarah Spitz - talking about how she'd love to see Rush Limbaugh die of a heart attack while refusing to help; she then is struck with the realization of just how much hate she's consumed with.

Via the Daily Caller
In a post to the list-serv Journolist, an online meeting place for liberal journalists, Spitz wrote that she would “Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out” as Limbaugh writhed in torment.

In boasting that she would gleefully watch a man die in front of her eyes, Spitz seemed to shock even herself. “I never knew I had this much hate in me,” she wrote. “But he deserves it.”
Other posts show that these journalists spent quite a bit of time obsessing about the Tea Party movement, scheming ways to smear it and its members. Ryan Donmoyer of Bloomberg, compared "teabaggers" to "brownshirts".

Interestingly, Fox News became a target among the JourNolisters, providing a glimpse into what truly scares them.
The very existence of Fox News, meanwhile, sends Journolisters into paroxysms of rage. When Howell Raines charged that the network had a conservative bias, the members of Journolist discussed whether the federal government should shut the channel down.

“I am genuinely scared” of Fox, wrote Guardian columnist Daniel Davies, because it “shows you that a genuinely shameless and unethical media organisation *cannot* be controlled by any form of peer pressure or self-regulation, and nor can it be successfully cold-shouldered or ostracised. In order to have even a semblance of control, you need a tough legal framework.” Davies, a Brit, frequently argued the United States needed stricter libel laws.

“I agree,” said Michael Scherer of Time Magazine. Roger “Ailes understands that his job is to build a tribal identity, not a news organization. You can’t hurt Fox by saying it gets it wrong, if Ailes just uses the criticism to deepen the tribal identity.”
I'm sure none of these people would admit publicly, that they're afraid of Fox News. The reason for that is it would expose what they view as threatening. These revelations are extremely damaging to the left for a number of reasons. Many of these writers want to be portrayed and perceived as objective; these posts reveal they're anything but. More important, however, is their admissions to each other that the Tea Party and Fox News are threats to their agenda.

Conservatives often get frustrated because they feel helpless and want to know what they can actually do to fight back. These posts show that knowledge is power. They also serve as the blueprint for what people can do. Get informed, get educated, and simply get engaged. The rest will take care of itself. It's what birthed the Tea Party movement. It's a grass roots, non-violent movement that is armed with the truth. That is what the left fears most.

h/t to Free Republic

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

VIDEOS: SHIRLEY SHERROD IN DEFENSE MODE

After video of Shirley Sherrod speaking to the NAACP in 2009 went viral, she ended up being forced to resign over what many perceived as her racist comments about not doing all she could to help a farmer because he was white. Today, she blamed everyone but herself for actually making the comments. Her claims? She was alluding to a story from long before her service with the Department of Agriculture. Listen as Sherrod gives us her 'what I meant to say' moment.

Even if we're to believe her - some might - when she says she was telling an anecdote about a life lesson that taught her to move beyond race, wouldn't you like to know what she was thinking when people in the audience appeared to be cheering on her tale of discrimination?

Perhaps the most telling part of this first video is that Sherrod claims the White House forced her out because of the pressure being brought against them by both Fox News and the Tea Party. If true, that says quite a bit about how effective the Tea Party and the alternative media have become. If true, it should inspire hope and confidence in the conservatives in that respect.



Here's an interesting interview between CNN's Tony Harris and Sherrod, who explains that the White House forced her to pull ovr to the side of the road to resign. She also names the person responsible. When Harris asks her why the White House wasn't willing to hear her side of the story before showing her the door, Sherrod says the administration is afraid of Glenn Beck. That's almost as good as hearing the red phone ring.



h/t Hot Air

VIDEOS: GET YOUR A$$ES IN THE AIR

Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about donkeys. First up, a donkey hooked up to a harness and taken on a thirty minute parasail ride. Be careful you don't miss the take-off because the animal is whisked away off screen rather quickly. If mules can get whiplash, this one has it.



Next up, this donkey appears to be in a place like Pakistan. The cargo outweighs the animal and like a see-saw, well we all know what happens.

hee haw

BOOOM! DOCUMENTS PROVE LIBERAL MEDIA COLLABORATION

The listserv known as JourNolist was supposed to be a site for like-minded liberal journalists to meet privately so they could, in essence, collaborate their narratives. The site, founded by far left kook at the Washington Post, Ezra Klein, made news last month when posts of a supposed conservative beat writer had been leaked. Dave Weigel was effectively outed as mis-representing himself as a conservative, posting hateful and despicable things. Weigel resigned and Klein shut down the listserv.

Now, the Daily Caller has obtained documents from JourNolist that show supposed journalists colluding with one another on how best to kill stories about Jeremiah Wright during the 2008 presidential campaign.
According to records obtained by The Daily Caller, at several points during the 2008 presidential campaign a group of liberal journalists took radical steps to protect their favored candidate. Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage.

In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”
Journalists colluding and conspiring to pull the race card in an attempt to deflect damaging information? That's not news if you know the truth but now it's a matter of factual record.

Ironically, the two men who should be the most angered by these revelations are part of the leftwing establishment media - George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson as the records obtained by the Caller actually focus in on an April 2008 debate hosted by ABC. Those two "journalists" were targeted by the boys over on JourNolist during and after that debate, in which Obama was asked about Wright, much to the chagrin of these writers:
Thomas Schaller, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun as well as a political science professor, upped the ante from there. In a post with the subject header, “why don’t we use the power of this list to do something about the debate?” Schaller proposed coordinating a “smart statement expressing disgust” at the questions Gibson and Stephanopoulos had posed to Obama.

“It would create quite a stir, I bet, and be a warning against future behavior of the sort,” Schaller wrote.

Tomasky approved. “YES. A thousand times yes,” he exclaimed.

The members began collaborating on their open letter. Jonathan Stein of Mother Jones rejected an early draft, saying, “I’d say too short. In my opinion, it doesn’t go far enough in highlighting the inanity of some of [Gibson's] and [Stephanopoulos’s] questions. And it doesn’t point out their factual inaccuracies …Our friends at Media Matters probably have tons of experience with this sort of thing, if we want their input.”
Their friends at Media Matters? Conservatives everywhere have screamed at their televisions when they see folks like Stephanopoulos and Gibson exhibit blatant bias. These revelations provide evidence for what conservatives have long suspected. They are policed by a liberal mindset and when they don't play ball, they pay a price. Media Matters is a powerful outfit. The last thing George and Charlie would want is to be the victims of the wrath of John Podesta & Company.

In September of 2009, weeks after the ACORN scandal broke, Charlie Gibson appeared on a Chicago radio station and was asked why ABC didn't cover the story. He chose to look foolish by laughing and saying he "didn't even know about it".

CLICK HERE for the audio.

This latest evidence from JourNolist could explain why Gibson would rather look like a dolt than report the truth - intimidation. Ditto Bob Schieffer over at CBS for not asking Eric Holder about the New Black Panther case. True, JourNolist is no more but that doesn't mean the culture doesn't still exist. After all, Media Matters is still smearing with reckless abandon.

Weigel posted as a conservative beat writer when he was anything but. His posts over at JourNolist clearly show he was mis-representing himself. There are times when I watch / read self-proclaimed conservative David Brooks at New York Times and wonder the same thing.

Here is where the JourNolist scandal started.

h/t to Free Republic

Monday, July 19, 2010

VIDEO: BOB SCHIEFFER'S LAME EXCUSE FOR NOT COVERING BLACK PANTHERS

You know when public outrage over a liberal media outlet or personality is loud when the source of that outrage is forced to acknowledge it. Case in point is the interview CBS's Bob Schieffer did with Attorney General Eric Holder last week. Schieffer conducted a thirty minute interview and never once asked Holder about the Justice Department's inexplicably dropping the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party (NBPP). The omission was egregious by journalistic standards.

Then, appearing on CNN, Schieffer explained why he didn't ask any questions about the case. In short, he had been on vacation and didn't know about it.

Disgraceful.

via NewsBusters

VIDEO: IS THAT A RACIST LEADER IN THE NAACP?

Shirley Sherrod was appointed to a position by Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack nearly one year ago. As Georgia Director of Rural Development, she was responsible for managing a budget of over $1 Billion. Keep in mind that she is responsible for money paid to her by taxpayers - of all races. That doesn't seem to bother her in this video as she relates a story about a white farmer she openly admits to not helping because he's a, well.......a white farmer.

It might be time to fire Ms. Sherrod.



h/t to Hot Air
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