2009: A Political Review

As we usher in a new decade, just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe New Years!

Obama Administration Received Warnings About Attempted Terrorist Attack

NYTimes.com:

The National Security Agency four months ago intercepted conversations among leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen discussing a plot to use a Nigerian man for a coming terrorist attack, but American spy agencies later failed to combine the intercepts with other information that might have disrupted last week’s attempted airline bombing.

The electronic intercepts were translated and disseminated across classified computer networks, government officials said on Wednesday, but analysts at the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington did not synthesize the eavesdropping intelligence with information gathered in November when the father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now accused of the attempted bombing, visited the United States Embassy in Nigeria to express concerns about his son’s radicalization.

The father, a wealthy Nigerian businessman named Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, had urgently sought help from American and Nigerian security officials when cellphone text messages from his son revealed that he was in Yemen and had become a fervent radical.

A family cousin quoted the father as warning officials from the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency in Nigeria: “Look at the texts he’s sending. He’s a security threat.”

The cousin said: “They promised to look into it. They didn’t take him seriously.”

The new details help fill in the portrait of an intelligence breakdown in the months before Mr. Abdulmutallab boarded a plane in Amsterdam with the intent of blowing it up before landing in Detroit.

Now you know that if a "systematic failure" like this had occurred during the Bush years, the leftist media would take turns frying the GOP, and rightfully so. Of course, it's now coming out that the Bush Administration may have released two for Guantanamo Bay detainees that had something to do with the attempted Christmas Day bomb attack the other day and yet, Barry's still talking about closing Gitmo. This comes after Barry took 3 days to speak publicly on Abdulmutallab (while on vacation no less) and Janet Napolitano's pathetic "the system worked" response. Again, when you elect liberals to the highest offices in the land, don't be surprised at the consequences.

Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized With Chest Pains

CNN is now reporting that Limbaugh is "resting comfortably" in the hospital. I don't agree with Rush on much, but does who truly care about the man need to get on him about taking better care of himself.

Dick Cheney Reprimands Barack Obama

ABCNews.com:

One day after President Obama called the "human and systemic failures" leading to the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest flight 253 "totally unacceptable," former Vice President Dick Cheney is accusing the president of being part of the problem.

"We are at war, and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe," Cheney said in a statement to Politico.

Cheney said Obama's "low key response" to the failed attack, refusal to use the phrase "war on terror" and the pending closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center all reflect an attitude that terrorism is a law enforcement problem, not a military one.

"Why doesn't he want to admit we're at war? It doesn't fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency -- social transformation -- the restructuring of American society," Cheney said.

Dick Cheney's words are welcome.

RELATED: White House Forcefully Responds To Cheney

Democrat Assemblyman Dov Hikind Wants To Pass Racial Profiling Bill

I always have a few choice words for yahoos who think racial profiling should be made legal in order to combat terrorists: Timothy McVeigh and John Walker Lindh.

Source

While Tiger Woods Gets Cooked, Charlie Sheen Gets A Free Pass

NYPost.com:

Nothing says "holiday joy" like jail for TV's most famous men.

Late Thanksgiving night, the highest-paid (not to mention the randiest) man in all of sports got into a domestic dispute with his wife, crashed his car, got clubbed by said wife (literally) and ended up snoring on the side of the road before being hauled away, ruining Thanksgiving and the lives of his wife and Tiger cubs, not to mention his career.

On Christmas morning, the highest-paid (even randier) actor on TV wrecked Christmas for his (legally drunk) wife Brooke Mueller and their twins by attacking said wife with a knife and spending Christmas posting bail.

Maybe they should change those lyrics to "God Arrest Ye Merry Gentleman."

But, unlike Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen's latest vicious behavior has not ruined his career. Sheen's only gotten richer and more popular every year for behavior so menacing he should be classified as a career criminal.

His rise up the Hollywood ladder -- and corresponding crime wave -- began in 1990 when he shot his fiancée Kelly Preston "by mistake." In 1991, he was rewarded with a starring role in "Rookies."

In 1995, he was outed as one of Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss's deepest-pocketed clients ($110,000!). He cooperated with the police and testified against her at the trial.

That same year he sailed through the assault of a UCLA student who refused to have sex with him by settling out of court. In 1996, he was "punished" with a big gig on "Spin City."

Enter 1997 and he knocked his then-girlfriend Brittany Ashland to the floor and split her lip. He got a year's suspended sentence, two years probation, a $2,800 fine and a gig narrating "Discovery Mars," a TV special. Not bad for a high school dropout.

The following year, after smoking crack and injecting coke, his father Martin Sheen reported him for violating parole and forced him into rehab. He starred in four movies that year.

In 2005, the "Two and a Half Men" star's pregnant wife Denise Richards divorced him for catting around with hookers, gambling, drug and alcohol abuse. He was nominated for a Golden Globe and launched a kids' clothing line shortly thereafter.

RELATED: AUDIO: Brooke Mueller tells Cops Charlie Sheen Threatened Her With A Knife

Levi Johnston Gets Public Release Of Child Custody Case

FOXNews.com:

Sarah Palin's oldest daughter appears to have lost her bid to keep a bitter legal dispute with her 1-year-old son's father confidential.

An Alaska judge last week denied Bristol Palin's request to keep the legal proceedings of her custody dispute with Levi Johnston closed.

Palin, 18, filed a petition in early November seeking sole custody of her son, Tripp, and child support payments. She had argued that the scrutiny the case could attract would turn it into a "media circus" that potentially could cause her son embarrassment as he grows older.

"In this day and age of the internet, media stories remain available for years, even decades, after they are first published, and anything printed in the media [whether it is true or not] will be available to Tripp when he is old enough to read," she said in an affidavit.

Levi Johnston, who is seeking joint custody, has pushed for open court proceedings, saying he "just wants a simple case on the merits."

"I do not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding," Johnston said in an affidavit. "I hope that if it is open she will stay out of it. Bristol's attorney is her attorney."

Bristol Palin said that her mother, who resigned as Alaska governor in July, would not be involved in the case other than as "grandmother."

Palin's petition also seeks a visitation schedule for Johnston, who she says has exercised "sporadic visitation rights."

This case should've been kept private. Levi Johnston, whose already proven how much he loves the public spotlight, has no proof of Sarah Palin's involvement here. And if Bristol's mother is supporting her daughter here, well, that's what most moms would do. This is about nothing but Levi Johnston continued contempt for Sarah Palin, so much so that he would even put his personal hate for her ahead of the best interests of his son. He's a sad and pathetic young man who clearly needs lots of help. One can only hope that the Alaskan court doesn't allow personal feelings about Sarah Plain to affect their final judgment in deciding this custody case.

Democrat Senator Max Baucus Denies He Was Drunk On Senate Floor

BillingsGazette.com:

Sen. Max Baucus' office Monday denounced a widely viewed Internet video that suggested Baucus was drunk on the Senate floor last week, calling it an "untrue, personal smear" designed to attack Democrats’ health-care reform legislation.

"This is beyond the pale, and this type of gutter politics has no place in the public sphere," said Baucus spokesman Ty Matsdorf.

The video, posted over the weekend on the popular Internet video Web site YouTube, is a five-minute clip of Baucus speaking last Tuesday during floor debate on the health-reform bill that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve.

Baucus, a key figure in Democrats’ crafting of the health-reform bill, is angrily answering Republican criticism that Democrats fashioned a partisan bill and locked Republicans out of any meaningful talks on the bill.

The video on YouTube is headlined "Senator Max Baucus drunk/intoxicated on Senate floor — shouts down Wicker," and was the top item Monday on the Drudge Report, a prominent right-leaning news Web site.

The video speaks for itself. Max Baucus was either drunk or is dealing with some type of medical condition. No attempt to "smear" here.

Janet Napolitano Recants "System Worked" Statement

American security suffers then they elect liberal Democrats to the highest offices in the land. This was proven under the Carter and Clinton administration and it's being proven again now. If Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab wasn't such an inept wannabee terrorist, over 200-plus people on that Detroit-bound plane would've been dead now. The next time we might not be so "lucky".

Avatar Director James Cameron Curses Out Fan For Requesting Autograph

Takes probably 2 seconds to sign an autograph....what a jerk.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 12/28/09

The Obamas Hawaii Christmas: Will It Include Church?

Bomb Suspect Led Privileged Life, Sought Extremist Education

Four New Kings Of The Hill In Washington

Corruption Of The Science Establishment: Causes And Cures

The Real War Front Is At Home

Federal Same-Sex Benefits Would Cost Taxpayers $898M Over Next Decade

The EPA: They Don't Need No Stinkin' Climate Treaty

Crazy Lady Makes Threat At Michelle Obama

Leftist Blogs Take Glee In Pope Attack

CAIR Admitted Fundraising For Convicted Terror Group

Joe Lieberman: The United States Must Pre-Emptively Act In Yemen

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Get Blank Checks: NYT Provides No Coverage

Conservative Democrats Tell Obama's Leftist Minions To Drop Cap-And-Trade

Politico.com:

Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year.

“I am communicating that in every way I know how,” says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least half a dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming.

The creation of an economy-wide market for greenhouse gas emissions is as the heart of the climate bill that cleared the House earlier this year. But with the health care fight still raging and the economy still hurting, moderate Democrats have little appetite for another sweeping initiative — especially another one likely to pass with little or no Republican support.

“We need to deal with the phenomena of global warming, but I think it’s very difficult in the kind of economic circumstances we have right now,” said Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who called passage of any economy-wide cap and trade “unlikely.”

At a meeting about health care last month, moderates pushed to table climate legislation in favor of a jobs bill that would be an easier sell during the 2010 elections, according to Senate Democratic aides.

“I’d just as soon see that set aside until we work through the economy,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). ?“What we don’t want to do is have anything get in the way of working to resolve the problems with the economy.”

Good news for common sense as well as the often underestimated power of conservative Democrats. Bad news for Al Gore and the rest of 'climate change' hoaxers on the Left.

Monica Crowley Gives Obama An "F"

Alaina Reed Hall R.I.P.

LATimes.com:

Alaina Reed Hall, a singer and actress who played Olivia Robinson on "Sesame Street" for a dozen years beginning in the mid-1970s and later played Rose Holloway on the situation comedy "227," has died. She was 63.

Reed Hall, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, died Thursday at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said her husband, Tamim Amini.

One of the original cast members of the 1974 off-Broadway production of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road," Reed Hall joined "Sesame Street" in 1976 and played Olivia -- a professional photographer and sister to the character Gordon -- until 1988.

In a 2004 interview with the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, Reed Hall described "Sesame Street" as "the best job I ever had."

When she heard fans calling out to her as she rode in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, she said, "It dawned on me. I have a big responsibility. I was in their house every day."

If you were a member of my generation then you damn well that "Sesame Street" was the joint back in the day. I'm sorry to hear that Alaina Reed Hall passed away, to her fans she'll always be a legend.

Jasper Schuringa: Flight 253 Hero Speaks

CBSNews.com:

Jasper Schuringa, a director from Amsterdam, has been identified as the passenger who helped subdue an alleged terrorist as he tried to detonate explosives on board Northwest Airlines flight 253.

A high-ranking law enforcement official told CBS News that the suspect, identified by multiple sources as 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently used a syringe to inject a chemical into powder located near his groin, a technique not seen in previous attempted attacks.

Schuringa told CNN he heard a sound similar to a firecracker as the Detroit-bound flight was preparing to land. After seeing smoke, he noticed a burning object between Abdulmutallab's legs.

"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa told CNN.

RELATED: Terror Lists Under Scrutiny

Obama Ending Abstinence-Only Programs

WaPo.com:

Proponents of sex education classes that focus on encouraging teenagers to remain virgins until marriage are hoping that the rescue plan for the nation's health-care system will also save their programs, which are facing extinction because of a cutoff of federal funding.

The health-care reform legislation pending in the Senate includes $50 million for programs that states could use to try to reduce pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among adolescents by teaching to them to delay when they start having sex.

Under the federal budget signed by President Obama, such programs would no longer have funds targeted for them.

"We're optimistic," said Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association, which is lobbying to maintain funding for the programs. "Nothing is certain, but we're hopeful."

Critics of sex education programs focused on abstinence, however, are fighting to permanently end funding, saying there is clear evidence that the approach is unsuccessful.

"This is a last-ditch attempt by conservatives to resuscitate a program that has been proven to be ineffective," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based advocacy group. "This is the failed abstinence-only model that research has shown is ineffective."

During President George W. Bush's administration, abstinence programs received more than $100 million a year directly in federal funding and about $50 million in federal money funneled through the states. But the effort came under mounting criticism when studies concluded that the approach was ineffective and signs emerged that the long decline in teen pregnancies was faltering.

As part of Obama's first budget, Congress approved a request for more than $110 million for a new "teenage pregnancy prevention" initiative that would only fund programs that have been "proven effective through rigorous evaluation," which would effectively eliminate abstinence programs. The program would be run by a new Office of Adolescent Health in the Health and Human Services Department.

Yeah, let the teenagers continue to run wild, have sex and either get pregnant or contact an STD, after all it's the liberal way to teach our youth that their hormones should control them, not the other way around. Then too, maybe abstinence-only programs have proven to be "ineffective" because it's still the responsibility of a child's parents, teachers and other elders to teach our children values and that abstinence can be an option for them as much as the choice to have sex is--that they don't have to succumb to peer pressure, that they gave a right to say no to sex. But then the more teens get pregnant and/or catch STD's, the more funding for leftwing special-interest groups and their "victimhood" programs and Barry and his minions on the Left wouldn't want to put a stop to that.

9/11 Truther Charlie Sheen In Trouble For Beating Wife

ABCNews.com:

Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a Colorado jail cell after being arrested on domestic violence allegations.

The 44-year-old actor was taken into custody Friday morning by officers responding to a 911 call from a house in this ski resort town about 200 miles west of Denver.

An ambulance went to the house, but the accuser was not taken to the hospital.

Sheen, the star of CBS' "Two and a Half Men," was taken to the Pitkin County jail and booked for investigation of second-degree assault and menacing, both felonies, along with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, Aspen police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro said.

He was released in the late afternoon after posting $8,500 bond and being advised by a county judge on the conditions of his release, she said.

Charlie Sheen's history with women is as bad as Michael Moore's past history with hamburgers, but that hasn't stopped female after female from messing this racist schlep. Granted, he's rich and famous so he's gonna attracted a golddigger or two regardless, but still any chick dumb enough to marry the likes of Sheen has no one to blame but themselves for the consequences.

Terrorist Attack Halted While Obama's Away On $4000/Night Vacation

Newsmax.com:

A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida's instructions, set off an explosive device Friday in a failed terrorist attack on the plane as it was landing in Detroit, federal officials said.

Flight 253 with 278 passengers aboard was 20 minutes from the airport when it sounded like a firecracker had exploded, witnesses said. One passenger jumped over others and tried to subdue the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to a front row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned.

The White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel, but were not specified. Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. Others had slightly different spellings.

One law enforcement source said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil. "It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase," said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. "First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke."

At least one passenger acted heroically. Smith said the passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.

While this was going on Barry was in Hawaii with his family beginning a $4000/day Christmas vacation (one can only imagine the "outrage" from the Left if a Republican president did this). But what does he care? While millions of Americans remain out of work, Barry's probably busy sipping champagne now that his all-important health care "reform" is just about signed and done.

Linus Explains What Christmas Is About

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Pope Knocked Down By Crazy Woman At Christmas Mass

CNN.com:

A woman jumped a barrier at the start of Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down the pope, briefly disrupting ceremonies.

Screams erupted from onlooking worshippers when the woman ran toward Pope Benedict XVI and grabbed onto his vestments as he walked down the main aisle of the church, video footage showed.

He was quickly helped to his feet by his aides -- prompting cheers from the crowd -- and the service was resumed, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told CNN.

The woman was removed by Vatican guards, Lombardi said.

John Allen, senior Vatican analyst for CNN, said such security breaches aren't uncommon.

"As compared to say, the president of the United States, the security membrane around the pope is pretty thin and fairly permeable," he said, citing similar past incidents, including one that happened last Christmas Eve.

She must be a liberal.

Hollyweird Liberal Pricks Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins Break Up

ABCNews.com:

It's a Christmas shock: Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, until now one of Hollywood's rare enduring couples, have called it quits.

Wednesday, in a statement to media outlets, Teal Cannaday, Sarandon's publicist, confirmed that over the summer, the actress separated from her partner of more than two decades.

"Actress Susan Sarandon and her partner of 23 years, actor Tim Robbins have announced that they separated over the summer," Cannaday said in a statement obtained by ABCNews.com. "No further comments will be made."

ABCNews.com's calls and e-mails to Robbins' publicist were not immediately returned.

They probably never got married because "teh gheys can't"...yunno those leftwing loons in Hollyweird pride themselves in being so cool.

Did Bernie Madoff Get Beat Up In Jail?

Bloomberg.com:

Bernie Madoff went to Duke University Hospital on Dec. 18 with injuries consistent with an assault, ABC News reported, citing the network’s WTVD affiliate in North Carolina.

Madoff had facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, the ABC affiliate said, citing people familiar with the situation it didn’t identify. Madoff was discharged from the hospital two days ago, according to the ABC-WTVD report on ABC’s Web site.

Madoff, 71, was moved to the Federal Medical Center at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, Catherine Elsea, a spokeswoman for the medical center said in a statement yesterday.

Madoff's lawyer told the AP that Bernie's suffering from "dizziness and high blood pressure" so who knows what's really up. But considering the large amount of people that Madoff victimized during his reign of terror, would it shock anyone that he'd get his ass kicked in jail?

Jimmy Carter Apologies To The Jews

Newsmax.com:

Former President Jimmy Carter apologized for any words or deeds that may have upset the Jewish community in an open letter meant to improve an often-tense relationship. He said he was offering an Al Het, a prayer said on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It signifies a plea for forgiveness. "We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter said in the letter, which was first sent to JTA, a wire service for Jewish newspapers, and provided Wednesday to The Associated Press.

"As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."

Carter, who during his presidency brokered the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty, outraged many Jews with his 2006 book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Critics contend he unfairly compared Israeli treatment of Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza to the legalized racial oppression that once existed in South Africa.

Israeli leaders have also shunned him over his journey to Gaza to meet with Hamas, considered a terror group by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.

Carter apologizing for a book he wrote just 3 years ago? Doesn't seem right to me. Of course it couldn't possibly have something to do with his grandson running for a Senate seat in a heavily Jewish district, could it? Right.

Gov. David Paterson: ObamaCare Will Punish New Yorkers

NYDailyNews.com:

Gov. Paterson Monday declared that New York is being "punished" by the national health care bill expected to be voted on by Christmas.

New York stands to lose between $1.1 billion to $1.25 billion a year if the bill is adopted unchanged, Paterson told Buffalo's WBEN-AM radio.

Even though the goal of the legislation is to get as many people insured as possible, Paterson complained that New York is hurt by already having provided government-funded healthcare to a larger share of its residents.

Under the bill, he said, other states are being rewarded by enlisting more Medicaid recipients.

"New York can't do that, we're at the limit," he said. "We are, in a sense, by the bill being punished for our own charity.

"If this bill is encouraging the idea of having fewer people needing health insurance, then you would think that since New York already complied with that standard, we would get some equitable benefit for doing what Washington is doing now."

He said that New York Massachusetts and Vermont were the hardest hits states by the legislation, but "sweetners" were added in recent days to help those other two states.

The Medicaid plan, he said, has long hurt New York because it reimburses states based on per capita income as opposed to the poverty rate.

While New York's poverty rate is 25% of the national average, its per capita income is among the highest, Paterson said.

Last year the state of New York voted overwhlemingly for Barack Obama to become President and this is the thanks they get. Funny that.

Sarah Palin Responds To Liberal Media's 'Lie of the Year' Smear

NewsBusters.org:

Sarah Palin has responded to claims that her "death panel" comment concerning healthcare reform legislation is the "Lie of the Year."

As NewsBusters previously reported, the Palin-hating press have been having a field day since she won this dubious honor from the website PolitiFact last week.

On Tuesday, the former Alaska Governor responded at her Facebook page, and did so with skill and aplomb (emphasis hers):

Last weekend while you were preparing for the holidays with your family, Harry Reid’s Senate was making shady backroom deals to ram through the Democrat health care take-over. The Senate ended debate on this bill without even reading it. That and midnight weekend votes seem to be standard operating procedures in D.C. No one is certain of what’s in the bill, but Senator Jim DeMint spotted one shocking revelation regarding the section in the bill describing the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (now called the Independent Payment Advisory Board), which is a panel of bureaucrats charged with cutting health care costs on the backs of patients – also known as rationing. Apparently Reid and friends have changed the rules of the Senate so that the section of the bill dealing with this board can’t be repealed or amended without a 2/3 supermajority vote. Senator DeMint said:

“This is a rule change. It’s a pretty big deal. We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law. I’m not even sure that it’s constitutional, but if it is, it most certainly is a senate rule. I don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this in every bill. If you like your law, you most certainly would want it to have force for future senates. I mean, we want to bind future congresses. This goes to the fundamental purpose of senate rules: to prevent a tyrannical majority from trampling the rights of the minority or of future congresses.”

In other words, Democrats are protecting this rationing “death panel” from future change with a procedural hurdle. You have to ask why they’re so concerned about protecting this particular provision. Could it be because bureaucratic rationing is one important way Democrats want to “bend the cost curve” and keep health care spending down?

The Congressional Budget Office seems to think that such rationing has something to do with cost. In a letter to Harry Reid last week, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf noted (with a number of caveats) that the bill’s calculations call for a reduction in Medicare’s spending rate by about 2 percent in the next two decades, but then he writes the kicker:

“It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.”

Though Nancy Pelosi and friends have tried to call “death panels” the “lie of the year,” this type of rationing – what the CBO calls “reduc[ed] access to care” and “diminish[ed] quality of care” – is precisely what I meant when I used that metaphor.

Tyra Banks: Scientists Have Discovered A 'Cheating Gene' In Men

Well there you go, that explains it. We can't control ourselves, we're just born that way. Hey, the gays have worked the born that way scam for decades now and gotten tremendous results out of it, so why shouldn't every cheating louse in America jump on the same bandwagon? Right.

House Democrat Parker Griffith Switches To GOP

The abandonment of the Obama Regime begins.

Little Boy Expelled From School For Drawing Jesus On A Cross!

Only in the uber-liberal world of Barack Obama can an innocent child be attacked and psychologically damaged for drawing a picture of Jesus on a cross.

Black Liberal Danny Glover Says Obama Is Just Like Bush

NewsOne.com:

Danny Glover heaved a sigh when I asked him recently what he thought of President Obama’s performance so far.

It wasn’t a sigh of relief.

“I think the Obama administration has followed the same playbook, to a large extent, almost verbatim, as the Bush administration. I don’t see anything different,” the activist movie actor said of Obama’s policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. “On the domestic side, look here: What’s so clear is that this country from the outset is projecting the interests of wealth and property. Look at the bailout of Wall Street. Why not the bailout of Main Street?”

“He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black—and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman,” says Danny Glover. “But what choices do they have within the structure?”

More in sorrow than in anger, Glover went on: “What choice does he have—in four years, eight years? Let’s just call a spade a spade. Really. There are no choices out there. He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black—and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman—but what choices do they have within the structure?”

Glover is among a growing chorus of African-American opinion leaders who are publicly and privately expressing varying degrees of resignation, disappointment, and outright anger concerning a presidency on which so many hopes have ridden.

Funny how long its taken some black liberals to wake up to the snow job Barry and his white, liberal minions pulled on them last year. The Democrat party continues to betray black folks all too willing to remain loyal, no questions asked. Too bad when it comes to Barry most still can't handle the truth.

Abortion Could Kill ObamaCare

APNews.com:

Twice now, abortion was almost a dealbreaker. This time, it was a dealmaker. But of hundreds of deals cut so health care legislation can stay alive, the hardest to keep may be the Senate's abortion compromise - achieved after 13 hours of negotiation. The volatile issue remains the biggest threat to getting a history-making bill to President Barack Obama.

Deals are the lifeblood of legislation. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana got $100 million more for her state, Connecticut's Joe Lieberman stripped the bill of a government insurance plan and Ben Nelson won a slew of favors for Nebraska - all in exchange for their votes.

Nelson was also pivotal in the abortion compromise. The abortion-rights foe cast the 60th vote Monday to prevent Republicans from burying the bill.

Abortion is an issue that doesn't usually lead to common ground, since interested groups have radically opposed views. That makes the Senate compromise - which seeks to prohibit the use of tax dollars for abortions - rare, even surprising. It's also why, as Senate Democrats move to negotiations with the House, other deals in their bill may stick more easily.

House liberals are starting to accept that they probably won't get a government insurance plan. But abortion opponents in the House nearly stopped health care once before, and they are poised to try again to preserve their more restrictive approach. It could be a dealbreaker.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., represented abortion rights supporters in the negotiations only to face criticism from women's rights groups, not just abortion opponents. Now, Boxer is urging lawmakers to take a second look. "You have both sides criticizing it, which means that we did what we had to do, we compromised in a fair way," Boxer said.

RELATED: How Nebraska's Insurance Companies Stand To Profit From Nelson's Compromises In Health Care Bill

Rudy Giuliani's Not Running For Anything In 2010

Examiner.com:

Word leaked today that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will announced that he won’t challenge either incumbent Governor David Paterson or Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 election. The former Mayor’s exit from two races in which he was never a formal candidate is good news for Governor Paterson, who has suffered in several opinion polls.

In more good news, Paterson’s job approval ratings have risen to a respectable 40%. (President Obama’s numbers hover around 49%-52%.) What does Giuliani’s exit mean for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, long rumored to be preparing a run against Paterson? It was reported recently that Cuomo’s camp warned Giuliani about entering the Governor’s race, because, according to various sources, Cuomo was likely to win.

In doing so, they may have jettisoned their strongest argument in a primary challenge against Paterson: that the Attorney General should be the Democratic nominee because he’d have the best shot of beating the former Mayor.

Shocked to say the least. All along I thought the governor's position was Giuliani's for the taking next year. God knows we don't need another Cuomo.

Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Smears Those Who Dare Criticize Obama

Damn, dude sounds like he's about to cry. BTW, love the way he pronounces "BA-RAAACK OBAMA" too. Good to see Dems standing up to critics of the President, I mean they would never do such a thing themselves. Never.

Source

Politiks As Usual: In The News 12/21/09

Police Investigate Cop Who Pulled Gun At Snowball Fight

Health Care Bill Faces Key Senate Test Vote; Laden With Pork

Bill O'Reilly Talks Up New Political Tea Party

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Signed In A Church

'Sexting' A Part Of Some Teens' Lives

Book Questions Evangelical Influence In Sports World

Shakedown In Copenhagen

Markos Moulitsas: We'll Get Killed In 2010

Ed Schultz Admits MSNBC Serves As Mouthpiece For White House

Library Group Defends Kevin Jennings Promotion Of Kids Sex Books

Man Exonerated After 35 Years, Court Registers Epic Fail

Journalist Michael Goodwin "Regrets" Voting For Obama

NYPost.com:

I am a baby boomer, which is to say my life has coincided with turbulent and awesome times. From the Cold War to Vietnam, from Watergate to Monicagate, through the horrors of 9/11 and the stunning lifestyle advances, my generation's era has been historic and exciting.

Yet for all the drama and change, the years only occasionally instilled in me the sensation I feel almost constantly now. I am afraid for my country.

I am afraid -- actually, certain -- we are losing the heart and soul that made America unique in human history. Yes, we have enemies, but the greatest danger comes from within.

Watching the freak show in Copenhagen last week, I was alternately furious and filled with dread. The world has gone absolutely bonkers and lunatics are in charge.

Mugabe and Chavez are treated with respect and the United Nations is serious about wanting to regulate our industry and transfer our wealth to kleptocrats and genocidal maniacs.

Even more frightening, our own leaders joined the circus. Marching to the beat of international drummers, they uncoupled themselves from the will of the people they were elected to serve.

President Obama, for whom I voted because I believed he was the best choice available, is a profound disappointment. I now regard his campaign as a sly bait-and-switch operation, promising one thing and delivering another. Shame on me.

Equally surprising, he has become an insufferable bore. The grace notes and charm have vanished, with peevishness and petty spite his default emotions. His rhetorical gifts now serve his loathsome habit of fear-mongering.

"Time is running out," he says, over and again. He said it on health care, on the stimulus, in Copenhagen, on Iran.

Instead of provoking thought and inspiring ideas, the man hailed for his Ivy League nuance insists we stop thinking and do what he says. Now.

His assertion we will go bankrupt unless Congress immediately adopts the health monstrosity marks a new low. At least it did until he barged into a meeting in Copenhagen to insult the Chinese with the same do-it-now arrogance on carbon emissions.

Oh my, how the times have changed.

John McCain: Obama Has Created More Partisan Environment Than Bill Clinton

HuffPo.com:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ripped into the president on Sunday for abandoning his pledge to foster bipartisanship in Washington, accusing Obama of creating a more toxic political environment than that which existed during the Clinton administration.

"In some ways, of course, yeah," McCain told Fox News Sunday when asked if the Obama White House was more partisan than Bill Clinton's. "At least under Hillarycare they tried to seriously negotiate with Republicans. There has been no effort that I know of -- of serious across the table negotiations -- such as I have engaged in with other administrations. And that was the commitment that the president made."

McCain, who squared off against Obama during the 2008 campaign, harped on two main issues: the deal the White House made with the pharmaceutical industry to secure its support of health care reform, and the fact that no C-SPAN cameras had been brought into Senator Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) office as the majority leader tinkered with the health care legislation.

"There has never been serious cross-the-table negotiations on any serious issue that I've engaged in -- and that I and others have engaged in -- with other administrations both Republican and Democrat," said McCain.

Thin-skinned Liberal Congressman Alan Grayson Wants Eric Holder To Imprison Critic

OrlandoSentinel.com:

Not everyone thinks imitation is the best form of flattery.

In fact, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando took such offense at a parody website aimed at unseating him that the freshman Democrat has asked that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder investigate the Lake County activist who started the anti-Grayson website “mycongressmanisnuts.com.”

Specifically, Grayson accuses Republican activist Angie Langley of lying to federal elections. His four-page complaint highlights the fact that the Clermont resident lives outside his district, but that Langley still uses the term “my” in “mycongressmanisnuts.com.”

“Ms. Langley has deliberately masqueraded as a constituent of mine, in order to try to create the false appearance that she speaks for constituents who don’t support me,” writes Grayson. “[She] has chosen a name for her committee that is utterly tasteless and juvenile.”

Grayson’s office did not respond with comment other than to confirm the letter exists — including its request that Langley be fined and “imprisoned for five years.”

Langley did not immediately respond with comment.

Her webpage, which imitates Grayson’s own congressmanwithguts.com, was launched this fall as a way to raise money against him. He has infuriated Republicans this year, most famously by saying the GOP healthcare plan was for sick patients to “die quickly.”

"Tasteless and juvenile" from the same guy who just got on TV and said that Dick Cheney should "STFU" the other day. Give a liberal a taste of their own medicine and they whine like a little girl. Cry me a river already.

Monica Lewinsky Calls Bill Clinton A Liar

NYDailyNews.com:

Monica Lewinsky believes Bill Clinton lied to a federal grand jury about their affair, a new book on the Clinton scandals says.

Politico.com reported yesterday the White House intern whose Oval Office trysting nearly brought down the 42ndPresident made that assertion to Duquesne University law professor Ken Gormley. His 769-page analysis of Monicagate, "The Death of American Virtue," will be published in February.

"There was no leeway on the veracity of his statements because they asked him detailed and specific questions to which he answered untruthfully," Lewinsky wrote the author.

The book reportedly offers unflattering portrayals of Clinton and his chief nemesis, independent counsel Kenneth Starr.

Clinton, who was impeached in 1998 but not thrown out of office, boasted to the author that he beat his "disgraced" critics "like a yard dog."

While Bill Clinton disgraced the White House, getting it on with Monica Lewinsky while in office, terrorists were entering the country while planning the attacks on 9/11. No matter how he tries to spin it, It's a fact that he'll never be able to live down.

Compromised Democrats' Bill Covers 94 Percent Of Eligible Americans

Newsmax.com:

Congressional budget scorekeepers say the latest Democratic healthcare bill would cover 94 percent of eligible Americans while reducing the federal deficit.

The Congressional Budget Office said Saturday the changes announced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would cut the deficit by an additional $2 billion, bringing the 10-year total reduction to $132 billion.

The nearly $900 billion bill would be paid for by $483 billion in cuts to Medicare and other federal health programs, as well as tax increases.

The number of people covered by employers would decline slightly from projected levels, as workers at small businesses take advantage of federal subsidies to purchase their own plans.

It would leave 23 million people still uninsured in 2019.

Hey, Barry's legacy is on the line here. At this point they'll pass anything if they can put his name on it.

RELATED: Democrats Win Over Holdouts On Health Care Bill

Bill O'Reilly with Ann Coulter on Christmas, Religion and the ACLU

Al Franken's Petty Revenge On Joe Lieberman

CNN.com:

Tensions stemming from the prolonged debate on health care flared Thursday afternoon when Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who was the presiding officer, refused to let Sen. Joe Lieberman finish his speech on the senate floor.

Lieberman, the bane of the Democratic Party's liberal base because of his opposition to creating a public option and expanding Medicare, was speaking about preserving the Medicare trust fund.

After his allotted ten minutes, Lieberman - an independent from Connecticut who sits with the Democratic caucus - asked for more time to finish his speech, a request customarily granted in the venerable chamber.

"In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," replied
Franken.

"Really?" Lieberman asked, seeming surprised by the rejection. "Okay," he continued with a chuckle, "I don't take it personally."

Immediately following the exchange, Lieberman's closest Republican ally, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, came to his defense.

"I must say that I don't know what's happening here in this body, but I think its wrong," said McCain. "I have been around here for 20-some years. [This is] the first time I have ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks."

It's so noteworthy to see how liberals are reacting to this exchange, but then why not remind us all of the spoiled, whiny brats conservatives have long known them to be? When the Left doesn't get their way, this is what they succumb to: smear campaigns, idiot petitions, name-calling, attacking family members, petty and churlish behavior, etc. all to score a point with their lunatic base. It's just who they are, the loons can't help themselves.

Message To Duggar Family: Time To Stop Having Babies Already!

People.com:

Michelle Duggar tells PEOPLE she is cherishing every moment with her premature 19th child, Josie Brooklyn, who remains hospitalized at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. "Josie is doing as well as can be expected for a baby at her age. We are taking each hour as it comes," says Michelle, who has been released from the hospital.

"We feel so blessed that God has given us to her and are cherishing every moment with her." Josie was born on Dec. 10 weighing 1 lb., 6 oz. Michelle, who had been in the hospital recovering from a gallstone, was taken to the OR for an emergency C-section. Her husband Jim Bob Duggar remained by her side.

Michelle's doctors said the baby was born prematurely because Michelle suffered from preeclampsia, a rare condition during pregnancy that causes high blood pressure.

First of all, prayers for the Duggar family as they go through this troubling time. Secondly, it's time to stop having kids already. The Duggars claim to be a Christian family, ok well maybe Michelle Duggar getting preeclampsia is a sign from God to be done with getting pregnant. Michelle Duggar is 43yo now, if her husband Jim Bob truly loves her, he should be worried about his wife's health including the fact that he could of lost the mother of his kids all because of what? Having 19 kids instead of 18? Michelle should concentrate on staying healthy for her children and help this newborn flourish into a healthy, responsible adult. Giving birth in your early 40's is not something to be played around with and God has more than blessed the Duggars with plenty of children already. Enough's enough.

Copenhagen 'Climate Change' Summit Hit By Blizzard

Bloomberg.com:

World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.

“Temperatures will stay low at least the next three days,” Henning Gisseloe, an official at Denmark’s Meteorological Institute, said today by telephone, forecasting more snow in coming days. “There’s a good chance of a white Christmas.”

Delegates from 193 countries have been in Copenhagen since Dec. 7 to discuss how to fund global greenhouse gas emission cuts. U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive before the summit is scheduled to end tomorrow.

Denmark has a maritime climate and milder winters than its Scandinavian neighbors. It hasn’t had a white Christmas for 14 years, under the DMI’s definition, and only had seven last century. Temperatures today fell as low as minus 4 Celsius (25 Fahrenheit).

DMI defines a white Christmas as 90 percent of the country being covered by at least 2 centimeters of snow on the afternoon of Dec. 24.

Oh, the irony.

Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith Clowns on Detroit's School System

Let's see...Detroit has a Democrat mayor, Dave Bing. Bing took over after corrupt former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned last year and in the 4th mayoral election this year alone, Bing was finally elected to a term. Detroit is in Michigan, a state which has a Congress run by Democrats. Michigan's governor is Democrat Jennifer Granholm, a woman who happened to be a member of Barack Obama's transition team. Unemployment in Michigan (which has been losing jobs since 2000) hovers around 15%, for Blacks it's approaching 30%, despite an economic stimulus package that was supposed to save the world. Wanna know what's wrong with Detroit's school system just play connect the dots. Shep Smith isn't the problem, the people in charge are.

Sarah Palin Calls Out Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Climate Change' Hypocrisy

CSM.com:

The Sarah Palin-Arnold Schwarzenegger clash over climate change pits two Republican stalwarts in a tiff that brings to the fore the divisions within the GOP on environmental policy and global warming.

It all began when the California governor questioned Ms. Palin’s motivation for penning an op-ed article in The Washington Post that questions climate change science based on leaked e-mails from a leading research group. (Read more about the controversy over climate researchers’ hacked e-mails here.)

In her Dec. 9 article, Ms. Palin criticized the Democrats cap-and-trade plan to limit greenhouse-gas emissions as a jobs killer and called on President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen climate talks, reflecting a skeptical view of global warming often seen in conservatives' Tea Party protests.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, a leading proponent of environmental policies to head off climate change, told the Financial Times: "You have to ask: what was she trying to accomplish? Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the nomination [for president]?"

The governor then said this to ‘Good Morning America’ Tuesday: "I think there are people that just don't believe in fixing and working on the environment. They don't believe there is such a thing as global warming, they're still living in the Stone Age."

Palin fired back on Facebook: “Why is Governor Schwarzenegger pushing for the same sorts of policies in Copenhagen that have helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment?”

She was “among the first governors to create a sub-cabinet to deal specifically with climate change,” she said, adding, “While I and all Alaskans witness the impacts of changes in weather patterns firsthand, I have repeatedly said that we can't primarily blame man's activities for those changes. And while I did look for practical responses to those changes, what I didn't do was hamstring Alaska's job creators with burdensome regulations so that I could act "greener than thou" when talking to reporters.”

Palin's view on climate change is certainly not the most skeptical within the GOP. She acknowledges climate change may be a problem but that "we can't say with assurance that man's activities cause weather changes."

It's funny how people act like this woman was never elected governor of a state.