'Emma' Open Thread

     What did you think?

Florida's Rubio Knocks Medi-Scare Dems Into the ICU

As the Democrats ramp up in preparation of scaring the bejezuz out of our senior citizens, meanwhile making no provisions for tomorrows senior citizens, they took a blow straight to the chops by one Marco Rubio:

If they have a better way to save Medicare, what are they waiting for to show us? What is their plan to save Medicare?

Either show us how Medicare survives without any changes or show us what changes you propose we make. Anyone who supports doing nothing is a supporter of bankrupting Medicare.

Where is the House Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is the Senate Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is President Obama’s plan to save Medicare?

They have no plan to save it, and they do not plan to offer one. They have decided that winning their next election is more important than saving Medicare for my mother and retirees like her.

I have been in the Senate just long enough to be disgusted by the reality that Washington has too many people who think their personal political careers are more important than our country’s future.

Maybe the Democrats’ strategy to use Medicare as a political weapon will work. Maybe not offering their own plan to save Medicare will help them win seats in Congress and re-elect President Barack Obama. Maybe it is great for the Democratic Party. But it is terrible for people like my mother, and it is terrible for America.

I like this guy.

With a tip of the hat to Sissy Willis at SISU.

'Lone Survivor' Marcus Luttrell

One of the great things about books is the way they can just take us away, giving us the chance to experience other worlds and other realities. At my very fittest and strongest as a young man, I never had the kind of gravel in the gut as a guy like Marcus Luttrell and his buddies who make up our Navy SEAL teams, but he was kind enough to share with us his experiences in becoming a SEAL, and what it was like for him to slip into the violent, far off places we send our armed forces.

Marcus was there, along with three of his buddies, Daniel Dietz, Matthew Axelman and Lieutenant Michael Murphy as part of a four man SEAL sniper team, looking for a Taliban leader that they were tasked to eliminate. What were Navy SEALs doing in the peaks of the Hindu Kush? Well, they are the most stealthy snipers in the business, and Mikey, Danny, Marcus and Axe would go most anywhere their country asked them to.

How luck ended up with their chance discovery by three goat herders who literally just happened to walk right over the top of them, their decision to let the goat herders go, and the consequences of that decision make for a compelling tale. As a story, an adventure and an insight into the world of our special forces teams, it's quite a ride.

Obamiacs, TSA Get Down And Dirty

"Find a job you really love, and that will be the last day of work in your life.

In there usual statist fashion, the TSA has threatened the people of the state of Texas with eliminating all air flights in and out of the State of Texas to force the Texans to give up attempting to curb the dog in heat that the TSA has devolved into.

House Bill 1937 had passed the House unanimously 138-0, and was headed for a vote in the Texas state Senate before the federal government stepped in to undermine the legislation.

In a letter sent to Texas lawmakers, including to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus, the House Clerk, and the Senate Secretary, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy threatened to cripple the airline industry in the state if legislators did not back down.

“If HR 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute,” Murphy wrote. “Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew. We urge that you consider the ramifications of this bill before casting your vote,” Murphy added.

Without their groping procedures the TSA could not ensure our safety? You mean, like they have in the past? Well, what about this, or this, or this, or this? Okay, maybe not that last one, but who can forget the panty bomber? Who can forget the shoe bomber? Every time TSA was out groping some granny they were leaving the safety of the flight up to the passengers and crew, who were left to wrestle some guy to the floor while he shouted "Allah Akbar." All the while the Homeland Security chief assured us the "system" was working. Well, failure of a bomb to explode does not constitute a system working. That's hardly a valuable guarantee they're handing out.

The Texans did not go quietly into the night. Apparently there was an extended and fiery debate on the floor of the Texas senate before Senate sponsor Dan Patrick pulled the bill.

The abuse of power that these clowns are so damn comfortable with makes me sick. Our federal government under Obama increasingly behaves with total disregard for the United States Constitution, and the constraints therein that our nation was founded upon.

Chronicles of a Manhattan Conservative

So the trip to Sissy's wasn't all about cats?

No.

As always, she's serving up a full plate, not the least of which was her comment on a book offered by a woman by the name of Jedediah Bila. I had never heard of her, but apparently after living in Manhatten for a number of years and working as an educator, she has written a book she titled OUTNUMBERED: Chronicles of a Manhattan Conservative

"They felt the need to 'remind' me that Obama is a 'genius,' Palin is an 'idiot,' and anything and everything is George W. Bush’s fault," Jedediah recalled sitting through lockstep faculty-lounge chatter in the aftermath of President Obama's election.

Sounds about right. Jedediah has come to some notice while doing early morning commentary on Fox's Red Eye show. Sissy ripped through "Outnumbered" in a day, and is saying it's good fair.

You can pretty much take that to the bank.

When Cats Talk

Earl Grey peers in.  These two don't say much, but there's a lot going on.

It's been far too long since we have been over to see what Sissy Willis is up to. What does she think of the goings on in the world? Well, it turns out things are very topsy-turvey, much is in disarray, there is change in the air, troubled days and more to come.

The Middle-East? The debt crisis? Heavens, no! We're talking about her cats, of course!

It's a big adventure over there. A new cat... hmmm. This troublesome feline has got Sissy watching "The Cat Whisperer" I know, right? Wow!

Isn't it fun to watch cats talk? Apparently it's all in the eyes, all in the body movements. It seems the problem is here. Sissy is sure to get it sorted out. Drop her a line of encouragement.

HG To Brighten, Add Vitality To Steyn Cruise

"Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!!"

Everyone's favorite, April Gavaza, our very own Hyacinth Girl, has a seemingly forlorn hope to go off on the National Review Fall cruise.... and, by golly, we should all see if we can't help make it happen! Come on, put a fiver in the kitty. Roust yourselves, you can do it, and we shall get to go, one and all... vicariously of course, but we shall have participated none the less!

This is gonna be great fun! HG, Mr. HG, John Bolton, Andrew Klavin, K. Lo, VDH, Dinesh D’Souza, Tony Blankley, John Derbyshire, Jonah, Cal Thomas, my word, John Sununu, Andrew McCarthy, Ranesh, and Mark Steyn. Some of the most talented and interesting of conservative punditry. No, I will not be there, but lots of great guys and gals are going, and its our sincere hope, nay, our sincere duty, to send HG along.

Make your move and add a little sparkle to the Steyn Cruise.

Jane Austin on Being a Gentleman

A college classroom discussing literature, sometime earlier this spring:

"Just the other day, when we were discussing Darcy’s first proposal and Elizabeth’s adamant refusal, a bright young man raised his hand and said he had a question for a particular young lady in the class. He looked at her in all seriousness and said “Ashley, in light of your beauty and amiability, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the Liberty Ball?” Several moments of stunned silence followed as the rest of us tried to discern if this was a joke or a legitimate invitation to the spring formal. The young man held his gaze with steady expectation, and in perfect Jane Austen fashion the young lady blushed. And being no less equal to the occasion than an Austen character, she smiled demurely and remarked .... "

I stumbled across this piece by Mark Mitchell written back in April, and loved it:

Austen’s gentlemen (I’m thinking especially of Darcy here) understand the call of duty; they are committed to family, reputation, propriety, and self-control. To be sure, Darcy takes himself quite seriously, but aren’t these pursuits serious by nature? To neglect one’s duty, to be careless of one’s family and reputation, to ignore the bounds of propriety and to indulge the appetites without restraint are not the actions of a gentleman. They represent, conversely, the behavior of a boor. Or, perhaps equally fitting, they are the actions of a male who has no sense of what it means to be a man. Such characters may be Guys or Peter Pans but they are not men and surely not gentlemen.

No indeed.

Juan Williams in a Tizzy

Following the President's awkward handling of our ally Israel, and his attempted bullying her Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Juan Williams went off on the Fox News Sunday Panel. Williams chose to take the press conference address by the two national leaders out of context, ignoring Obama's strong arming of the Israelis, claiming that the President just wanted to change the dynamic and show that Israel is aggressive and affirmative in saying we want peace. Not that it was the president's place to say what Israel was going to do or say next, nevertheless it was Netanyahu that raised Juan's ire:

"It's unbelievable to me... that he would have the arrogance to come in the Oval office and lecture an American president? I think that's way out of line!"

Arrogance?! Get a grip, Juan. Who's arrogant? Yeah, okay then.

Paul Gigot surmised that Netanyahu felt sand-bagged by Obama, and the statement made by the Administration made no sense at all in terms of the current negotiations. It simply stuck a thumb in the eye of an ally. Former Democrat Senator Evan Bayh from Indiana saw it simply as a question of nuance (of course). Liz Cheney continued to impress, pointing out that there is no response on the part of the US to the Palestinians unilaterally attempting to enter into the United Nations. Instead, the White House chose the occasion to try to set the agenda for Israel. It didn't fly.

Meanwhile the White House is passing out this tripe “What, what.. this is simply the policy the United States has held for years”. Yeah, well then why is Barry so grim looking when he is informed it’s a no go? Why does he look so damn surprised? Was it Israel that made a major speech the day before the conference that hemmed in the US position? No?! Listen, Jack, don’t piss in my ear and tell me its raining.

This is the same kind of crap he is always pulling. Invite the Supreme Court to sit in on your speech to the nation, then distort their rulings and insult their integrity. Bring the drilling experts in, then make a public statement they in no way agreed to, and pass it off in front of the press so they can’t recover. Invite Paul Ryan to sit up front and center following your talks on the budget, then accuse him in a joint session of starving old people and killing babies.

This time it blew up in his face, and if Juan Williams thinks its arrogant for Netanyahu to challenge the president by reciting the known history and describing the reality of the situation, then tough bagels, Juan. The President deserved what he got and more. He is not acting “presidential”, has not yet acted in any manner other than as a thuggish embarrassment to the nation, and it’s about time he faced someone who isn’t intimidated.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been in tight situations, high pressure situations where lives were on the line, and no one was patting him on the back and calling him gutsy for coming in off the golf course to watch a video feed of the guys he placed in harms way. He’s been in harm’s way himself, and that long dark stare doesn’t impress him.

Riffing on Fearless Leader

"I only want what's fair"

What would I do... what would I do, if it wasn't for my conservative buddies in the blogosphere. Here's a great riff from Dan Friedman over at Andrew Brietbart's Big Peace:

"Speaking to reporters accompanying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his long flight to the United States tonight, Netanyahu spoke of the injustice and hardship Mexicans have endured since American forces annexed Texas in 1845. “Tens of thousands of ordinary Mexicans were driven out of their homes – the only homes they had known for centuries – and forced to live in poverty and squalor south of the border imposed by American aggression,” Netanyahu said. “The Israeli and Mexican people agree on this: This festering wound will never heal until America takes bold steps to return to the internationally accepted lines of 1845. Clearly the settlement activity that’s taken place in occupied Mexico since then is illegal. When I meet the President tomorrow I will tell him to halt all building activity in Texas immediately. Two lands for two peoples, yes, but not on land taken by force from Mexico,” the Prime Minister said.

Asked if his hard-line stance could hurt the U.S.-Israel relationship, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to America’s security and the unshakeable friendship shared by the two countries, then added, “But who was it who said, part of friendship is being able to tell your friend the truth. The ball is now in Obama’s court."

Boris Badenov, Natasha Fatale, and of course, Fearless Leader

I just stole the whole thing, with a hat tip to Bob Belevedere for the link and, as usual, the eye catching photo. Great stuff!

Another Betrayal

Barry gives it his famous intimidating stare down. No dice.

It is no secret that Israel is under constant threat of destruction, that her people are frequently attacked and continually under threat of attack, that her neighbors have attempted to destroy her many times in the past, and with the over-throw of regimes like the Mubarak regime in Egypt the Middle-East has become increasingly unstable, and the only ally and Western style Democracy that can be of help to us in the region is, in fact, Israel.

This all being true, how can President Obama come out one day before the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dictate what Israel must accept, completely disregarding commitments this nation made to Israel just seven years ago? Does he not recall the land for peace deal that was brokered with Ariel Sharon, adopted by their government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005? is he ignorant of how Israel forced its citizens out, but no peace was forthcoming from the Palestinians? What in the world does President Obama mean by treating our ally as he has?

Here is what the Israeli Department of State had to say:

"Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress," the office wrote on Twitter. "Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines."

In preparation for the Gaza strip peace offering, President George W. Bush outlined the U.S. position in a 2004 letter to Ariel Sharon, assuring Israel that the United States would not pressure Israel to return to the old borders that existed before Israel fought the 1967 war. Those boarders were virtually impossible to defend, and invited attack.

The president's letter received the bi-partisan endorsement of the congress, which passed a resolution in the House of Representatives by a vote of 407-9 and in the Senate by a vote of 95-3. Because of this commitment, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon was willing to take the unpopular risk of forcing 9,000 of his fellow Israelis out of their homes in Gaza, allowing the region to promptly fall under the control of Hamas.

Obama has essentially disregarded this commitment, undermining the faith our allies can have in this president and in this nation. In doing so President Obama has done this nation no favors. He has weakend us in the eyes of our friends and in the eyes of our enemies. In addition, he has callously placed in jeopardy the lives of the 350,000 Israelis who live in well-established communities on the “wrong” side of the border to which Obama now demands Israel retreat. Disgraceful.

Mark Steyn discusses it with the help of Hugh Hewitt here. April Gavaza does fine all by herself here, while Bob Belevedere knocks it out of the park here.

Not Quite Straight

What's with this guy?

The War Powers resolution was put in place by congress in 1973 in the wake of the prolonged use of the military in Vietnam. It had been specifically designed by a joint resolution from congress to check the president from using the US military in a combat role without congressional approval. By the terms of the resolution, the President can only send our armed forces into action abroad by authorization of Congress. It requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action, and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days. But for President Obama, that's all just a little to restrictive. It cramps his style.

President Obama wrote a letter to congressional leaders this afternoon suggesting that the role is now so “limited” he does not need to seek congressional approval.

Might it not have been better to ask congress about whether or not you need to seek their approval, rather than just informing them you think you no longer need it?

“Since April 4,” the president wrote, “U.S. participation has consisted of: (1) non-kinetic support to the NATO-led operation, including intelligence, logistical support, and search and rescue assistance; (2) aircraft that have assisted in the suppression and destruction of air defenses in support of the no-fly zone; and (3) since April 23, precision strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles against a limited set of clearly defined targets in support of the NATO-led coalition's efforts.”

US aircraft flying suppression missions place US armed forces at risk, and though you might not feel flying missile equipped drones over Libya to be an act of war, the Libyans on the receiving end of the missile strike might feel differently. Didn't you cite the War Powers Act when you started this whole thing off?

From the beginning of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, the Obama administration has cited the 1973 War Powers Act as the legal basis of its ability to conduct military activities for 60 days without first seeking a declaration of war from Congress. The military intervention started on March 19; Congress was notified on March 21. Those 60 days expire today.

Not good.

'Bagdad Cafe' Open Thread

   What did you think?

Why Federal Dollars and Federal Regulations Fail to Help Educate Our Kids

And here we thought we had totally bombed.  Sweet!

It is human behavior that one always ends up dealing with. When dollars are involved, scoring the dollars outranks making our kids well educated. Case in point:

A USA Today investigation put a microscope on Noyes, where in just two years, the number of students passing math on the standardized tests increased from 10 percent to 58 percent.

The school’s dramatic improvement earned it a National Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education. It’s an honor that was given to only 264 public schools nationwide.

But in the 2010 testing round, 80 percent of Noyes classrooms were flagged for having a suspicious number of incorrect answers erased and corrected.

Somehow, school test results end up looking better after a little reflection and careful reconsideration of the questions. Are we to believe the kids are just damn good and at changing wrong answers to right? Apparently the change ratio was 12.7, as in it was 12.7 times more likely that an answer changed was changed from wrong to right. You're more likely to correctly guess the powerball numbers than to have tests changed so consistently to the correct response. Now how do you think that happened?

Brilliant.

Hillary Clinton Never Looked So Good

Moe offers a statement as Shemp, Larry and Curly look on.

Calling themselves The Elders, Jimmy Carter and a number of his contemporaries have been roaming the world causing a certain amount of mischief, inadvertently undermining whatever official government policy might be.

Quoting from Josh Rogin, it's no secret the Elders' trip to North Korea was viewed as extremely unhelpful by the governments of both Washington and Seoul. Chris Nelson reported on April 29 that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reacted strongly when asked in a morning meeting if she wanted to meet with Carter:

The performance of President Carter and his delegation in N. Korea this week was either shameful or fatuous...or both...and exemplifies why Carter had no...zero...USG support going in, and even less coming out. An alleged witness account of Clinton at her morning meeting the other day reportedly had the following exchange:

"Do you want to meet with Carter?" Clinton is looking at papers, and just says "No." Then she pauses, looks up and adds, "HELL no!!!"

Carter... sheesh! "Hell no!" is right. Count me in with Hillary.

Much Better

Done wasting your time on Tom Friedman? Good! Now you can read the really good stuff!

Check out April Gavaza's piece Shattered.

Tom Friedman Ponders Arab Spring

Jill was having some good fun the other day pointing out some awkward writing attempted by a New York Times Pulitzer prize winning journalist (oh yes, that again!). She and her red marker were on the money of course, but for my part it was the content of Thomas Freidman's piece that proved most troubling.

"As I’ve tried to argue, this uprising, at root, is not political. It’s existential. It is much more Albert Camus than Che Guevara. All these Arab regimes to one degree or another stripped their people of their basic dignity. They deprived them of freedom and never allowed them to develop anywhere near their full potential."

The guy is clueless. Albert Camus? Does he have any idea of where this is going? Look, leaving his arrogance aside, the man has remarkably little feel for the Arab Spring. Even the Arabs aren't sure what road they're headed down, and that should be the first thing out of the triple Pulitzer prize winner's mouth. Instead we have this little bit of dribble, best wiped away with a burp towel.

The problem is he has very little sense for what it is he doesn't know. He should have paid better attention when Mr. Rumsfeld was pointing out limitations we all face in life. Now we find Mr. Friedman trapped in his own limited perception of reality, but Friedman's perception of reality is not the reality we have to live in.

As to the Times itself, this is the same news source that reported on the surprising support Saddam Hussein held with his people during the Iraqi elections in 2002:

"One grandmother in a black cloak stormed onto one of the reporter's buses holding aloft a 10 day old baby boy with a Saddam button pinned to his swaddling clothes and shouted "Yes, yes, yes to Saddam!" so forcefully it seemed she might faint."

The Times did grudgingly concede that the 99.9% voting returns in favor of Mr. Hussein could not be taken at face value, but only after dutifully reporting the election results as if it was the first Tuesday in November.

TSA Doubles Down

"Now turn your head and cough"

After the latest TSA embarressment, one would think the brain trust at the TSA would look for a low profile. But no, despite embarrassment after embarrassent, the TSA is telling the Texas legislature to bugger off.

In defending their baby pat downs and genital searches, the TSA apparatchiks are all about blogging a bunch of nonsense, misconstruing the supremacy clause of the US Constitution:

"What's our take on the Texas House of Representatives voting to ban the current TSA pat-down? Well, the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article. VI. Clause 2) prevents states from regulating the federal government."

We usually do not think of the Obamiacs running to the Constitution to clarify what their behavior should be. For an administration that routinely flouts the law of the land, it is a strange sight indeed, but if it seems useful, there is no place they would not go. In this case, however, they may be a tad over their heads.

Article VI, Clause 2 states: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

The Texans had had enough, and late Thursday passed a bill that would make it a criminal offense for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs. The TSA pat-down procedures are simply policies created by the TSA. They are not mentioned in the United States Consitution, nor are they a part of a federal statute. Unless the TSA can cite a federal statute codifyng their baby pat-downs and genital gropes, the TSA's search policy is not adequate to override a state law barring them.

The Texans specifically outlawed the TSA or anyone else from conducting a search to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person," also prohibiting searches “that would be offensive to a reasonable person.”

Well, the Texans are in trouble right there, because all this seems reasonable to Big Sis, and she and her security ship of fools are not backing down.

'Dirty Dancing' Open Thread

  What did you think?

TSA Still Befuddled

  This, you don't want to see.

The Transportation and Safety Authority, which Janet Napolitano wants to unionize, is still institutionally befuddled as to what exactly constitutes a threat.

Case in point, Rageh Almurisi, a young Yemeni man on a flight from Chicago to San Francisco, who was allowed to board despite having no keys, no luggage, $47 cash, two curious posted checks totaling $13,000, and a trove of expired and current state IDs from New York and California. It turns out Mr. Almurisi did have relatives in California, but his travel plans were curiously unbeknownst to them.

People on the plane described Almurisi as sweaty and fidgety. Not so the Federal authorities, who were not the least bit embarrassed by not picking him out before he boarded the plane. "The system worked" is the usual way Napolitano describes hijacking attempts that are thwarted by the frantic actions of the targeted passengers and flight crew. Without breaking their stride, government officials offered they had "not as yet" discovered a motive.

Yemen, a nation at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, has been a focus of U.S. officials because one of the most active branches of al-Qaida operates in the remote part of the country.

A cousin of the suspect described him as an educated, easygoing person who had arrived in Northern California a year-and-a-half ago from Yemen in search of better opportunities.

In search of better opportunities... to do what?

Almoraissi said he could not imagine what may have caused his cousin to act as authorities allege he did on the plane, but said he was certain Almurisi was not a terrorist.

Well, there you go.

He said his cousin did not show an interest in politics and was not intensely religious. "He might have seriously mistaken the cockpit for the bathroom," Almoraissi said. "He's only been on three planes in his whole life."

The AP, they'll believe anything and just write it down... the goofs. Mistaking the cockpit where the pilots sit in the very front of the airplane for the bathrooms that are always off the hall. Simple mistake any happy go lucky Yemeni might make.

Almurisi went toward the cockpit door 30 minutes before the flight from Chicago was supposed to land on Sunday night, San Francisco airport police Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said. Almurisi was yelling unintelligibly as he brushed past a flight attendant.

After interviewing the passengers and gathering their facts, our government authorities characterize what he said as unintelligible? What, do you suppose, was Mr. Almurisi muttering "unintelligibly"?

  You don't want to see this either.

She said a woman in a row across from her who speaks Arabic translated that Almurisi said "God is Great!" in Arabic.

Wai, 27, also remembered on Monday that the wife of one of the men who took Almurisi down later said Almurisi was yelling "Allahu Akbar."

Well, maybe he really had to go? I mean, come on, people!

Meanwhile, TSA agents can be found frisking those they get a dander up over, as likely as not to be your grandmother, who anyone with any sense at all would know does not need excess scrutiny.

Recently TSA employees were seen happily frisking a baby while the child's mother held her in her arms. What the hell is wrong with these people?

All in a days work.

Incredible.

National Labor Relations Board Puts Blade to the Throat of Freedom

One of the many freedoms we enjoy as American citizens is freedom of movement. Unlike the Soviet nemesis that threatened us for so many years, our government does not build fences to keep our people from moving one place to another, or at least we didn't until the Obama Administration apparatchiks came along. The Obamacons have placed former Union lawyer Craig Becker onto the board of the National Labor Relations Board. Unable to get him confirmed through the normal mechanisms which would have challenged his impartiality to sit on such a board, he was made a recess appointment. Well, we didn't have long to wait to see how bad this appointment was going to be, as Mr. Becker has saw fit in these difficult economic times to strangle one of the nations major manufacturing firms.

Boeing is building a new jet aircraft, the Dreamliner, which is a mid-sized jet with the fuel efficiency and range of heavy transporters. The airplane will use 20 percent less fuel for comparable missions than today’s similarly sized airplanes. It will also travel at speeds that match today’s fastest wide bodies, Mach 0.85. The Dreamliner takes advantage of a number of design advances, using a unibody main frame that greatly reduces the number of parts to be fastened together and opens up more room in its interior. The plane will have more cargo revenue capacity and will also feature improvements in passenger comforts, such as maintaining higher humidity in its interior. The plane is currently being produced at maximum capacity in Washington. To increase production Boeing chose to expand their facility in South Carolina.

Over a year and half after Boeing announced plans to build a plant in the state of South Carolina, and with the $2 billion plant nearing completion, the NLRB has charged that Boeing’s decision violated the rights of its unionized workers in Washington state. The charge goes straight to the heart of the struggle for freedom against an over-reaching Federal bureacracy.

George Will writes:

"The NLRB has read a 76-year-old statute (the 1935 Wagner Act) perversely, disregarded almost half a century of NLRB and Supreme Court rulings, and patently misrepresented statements by Boeing officials.

South Carolina is one of 22 — so far — right-to-work states, where workers cannot be compelled to join a union. When in September 2009, Boeing’s South Carolina workers — fuselage sections of 787s already are built here — voted to end their representation by IAM, the union did not accuse Boeing of pre-vote misbehavior. Now, however, the NLRB seeks to establish the principle that moving businesses to such states from non-right-to-work states constitutes prima facie evidence of “unfair labor practices,” including intimidation and coercion of labor. This principle would be a powerful incentive for new companies to locate only in right-to-work states.

In the past sixteen years, the International Association of Machinists have brought production at Boeing's Washington plant to a halt three times, once for 58 days that cost the company to miss promised delivery schedules and nearly two billion dollars in actual costs. The IMA were offered an agreement where Boeing would build the new plant in Washington if they would make a commitment not to close the plant down. The union leaders for the machinists refused to accept those conditions.

Locating the new plant in South Carolina does not violate anyone's rights. It is merely good business. That is something this administration should be considering. Either companies like Boeing will succeed here, will ship their production overseas, or they will fail against their international competitors. I, for one, want to see US companies succeed.

Update:
Roxeanna de Luca got a bit of a chuckle out of this comment:

"The south is not stealing business. This is how breakups work. By the time your wife or girlfriend leaves you, she reached her decision a year ago and she’s not changing her mind now. Face it, you beat the snot out of Boeing one too many times and now she’s leaving your sorry A$$ behind."

Nicely put.

- Speechless Over Proposed Funding Cuts

Public support for tax payor funding of mimes vanishes.

In a subcommittee hearing Republican congressman Jeff Flake closely questioned National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman over Federal grants for such items as a San Francisco mime troupe, stating that making grants like these “feeds the cynicism out there about everything we do."

"Landesman responded that many of the programs that win NEA support could not exist without the help.

“The marketplace shouldn’t be the sole determinant of what is allowed to flourish,” Landesman said, adding that the renowned San Francisco Mime Troupe would likely not be able to survive solely on ticket sales.

Tax grubbing low life.

That's a real tear jerker.

Landesman said that NEA needs more staff in order to conduct field visits to ensure quality arts programs.

Yes, by all means, hire more staff. By the looks of it, you may very soon find a whole new pool of available talent to draw from. They could evaluate the merits of international accordion festivals and the like... though they generally don't say much.



With a hat tip to Jill over at Pundit and Pundette

The Day After Tomorrow?

Disaster headed our way? Perhaps, but certainly not from changes in the global weather. No, the storm brewing up is more of a financial nature, and a quick report from Ireland shows temperatures cooling precipitously. The government of Ireland apparently has taken the step of raiding private retirement pensions to fuel its ongoing government spending. Stating that they need the money, the government of Ireland has panned the piracy off as a jobs program strategy:

"Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates, and with severe spending rules in place due to its EU-IMF bailout, Ireland has few ways of spending to stimulate the economy. Today's jobs program includes specific tax increases, including the tax on pensions, aimed at keeping government jobs spending from adding to the national debt."

We've been a poor people for as long as I can remember, but we were always an honest people.

No longer.

"Ireland's ability to levy further taxes on other parts of the economy is restricted because its economic growth has been inhibited in the wake of a financial crisis that crippled its banking sector and decimated its public finances."

And who's to blame for that one, would you ever know?

And Therein Lies The Problem

Another bank closing.

The devastation that was our mortgage and securities market is showing little signs of recovery, despite massive Federal borrowing and money printing. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to be the anchors that drag our financial ship to the bottom. By October of 2010 the two were sucking down 135 billion in Federal funds. That amount ballooned to 154 billion by the end of 2010, and 2011 looks to carry on in the same tradition, with losses of over 200 billion:

Fannie Mae asked the government Friday for an additional $8.5 billion in aid after declining home prices caused more defaults on loans guaranteed by the mortgage giant.

The company said it lost $8.7 billion in the first three months of the year. Those losses led Fannie to request more than three times the federal aid it sought in the previous quarter. The total cost of rescuing the government-controlled mortgage buyer is nearing $100 billion - the most expensive bailout of a single company.

 ... even though I haven't earned it.

!00 billion. Not so bad, eh? Yeah, well that's only one of them:

Combined with the bailout of sibling company Freddie Mac, the government expects their rescue to cost taxpayers about $259 billion. That money will cover the mortgage giants' losses on soured loans made in the midst of the housing bubble.

Oops.

The companies nearly toppled because of losses on risky mortgages that they purchased between 2005 and 2008. They tightened their lending standards after those loans started to go bad.

Nice.

Mr. President, We Are Americans

Roxeanne de Luca is crediting Peggy Noonan for making a good case to release the photos of bin Laden. Noonan is a day late and a dollar short as far as I'm concerned. Nice to see she is thinking a tad more critically these days.

But now Roxeanne is another story all together. Clearly never taken in by the likes of Barry O, she chaffs at his dismissive attitude toward the people of the United States. In her recent piece she points out that many of those suspicious of whether or not the president was a natural born citizen had a good reason to be suspicious. The attitude is a reflection of our independent spirit. This being so, the bin Laden photos should be released. In failing to do so, Mr. Obama mistakes American pragmatism for a desire to gloat:

"Given that context, it makes sense for the American government to disclose as much as it can without compromising human dignity, the safety of our military, and intel gathering – not so that we can “spike the ball”, but because we are Americans, not sheep."

You gotta love that Roxeanne de Luca. Read the whole thing.

They Make A Good Point

Tramped out to drive her point home.

A series of protests have arisen over the careless remarks of one of Toronto's finest. Apparently the officer had been giving a talk to college students at York University on how to avoid rape and assault, and while doing so the officer offered the comment that women could help avoid getting themselves raped if they would avoid dressing like "sluts".

The protests, which have been come to be known as SlutWalks, have now crossed the international border and entered the home of the free and the brave.

"It was taking the blame off the rapist and on the victim," said Nicole Sullivan, 21, a student at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and an organizer of the SlutWalk planned Saturday in that city.

The idea of dressing cheaply and provocatively is something I am against, without question, but the greater evil here is the natural tendency for people to blame the victims for the crimes that befall them. Though such a dismissive attitude seemingly insulates the speaker from the fear of harm, it is a crime in itself which I find absolutely infuriating.

Kelly Osbourne

Aimee Osbourne

For me, I'm with the slutwalkers, heart and soul.

Washing, Burial of bin Laden Engenders No Good Will For US

Faithful followers of the religion of peace.

The Islamic community in Britain have gathered to show their defiance over the killing of terrorist mastermind, extremist and wanton murderer of the helpless. bin Laden supporters gathered today to chant and rage, vowing death to the Western world in which they have chosen to live. Islamic cleric preacher Anjem Choudary organized the event:

"There will be one million Osamas. Muslims will remember Osama as a great man who stood up against Satan. Many will want to emulate his acts."

Why not start with his last act, getting one of his wives to run cover for him as a US armed forces team puts two rounds into his head?

"In Britain we have other options - like political action, but in other countries if your land is attacked or your family are put at risk you must defend yourself. We believe in the covenant of security that we must attack those we live with, but many do not."

And what do the assembled brother Muslims think the future holds for you and I?

"It is only a matter of time before another atrocity - the West is the enemy.”

Not all were in agreement with Mr. Choudray and his band. A man who left the Mosque said the group were a dangerous minority.

"They are crazy. They all benefit from UK education and UK benefits. They get everything for free and yet they still complain."

Is there anything so sad as unrequited love?

"You see the people walking past and ignoring them. Most Muslims have better things to do then this."

Most Muslims? Most anybody would have better things to do than what these clowns were up to.

The pro-bin Laden 'funeral' demonstration took place as relatives of the 7/7 London terror attack wept at the inquest into the atrocity just three miles away. The 7/7 attack had claimed 52 more innocent lives. Choudray and his ilk have no shame for the brutal missdeeds of their twisted fellow islamists.

Let's Roll

Todd Beamer

The father of Todd Beamer, one of the hijacked Americans that began the fight against al Queada by joining with his cabin mates and contesting control of their airplane, has grown weary of hearing the things the president has to say:

"I feel some chagrin now, though, about how the rest of it has been handled. And frankly it started May Day, 2011 when the president announced what had happened. The excessive use of the personal pronoun that he used in his remarks, I really felt that was the beginning of the Commander-in-Chief putting too much spotlight on himself, taking too much credit for what these remarkable Americans had done. And of course it's only now accelerated to a greater degree in the media. It's being hailed as one of the greatest war time decisions, bold and gutsy, and quite frankly, under the facts and circumstances, I think it was anything but that. I think this decision had an inexorable conclusion. As the information unfolded, they were straight forward and easy, and he really had no other choice."

Well said.

On the one hand is Todd Beamer, an average American, a regular guy who loved his family, his wife, his children, but they were all taken from him, essentially for no reason. Caught in that terrible situation, he did what was needed, what he felt was required of him. He did not aspire to be a hero, and yet he became one.

Gutsy national hero.

On the other hand is a politician from Chicago.

Michael Moore... Mistaken?

The passing of ten years allows the possibility to bring perspective to the black events that befell the nation on September 11th, 2001. One place where perspective is needed is in the criticism documentary film director Michael Moore heaped upon the president for his handling of the event as it became known to him. In the eyes of the second graders that were reading to President Bush that day, a more mature assessment is offered us. Now high school students, they have little agreement with the Bowling From Columbine blowhard:

"One thing the students would like to tell Bush's critics - like liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, whose 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911 disparaged Bush for lingering almost 10 minutes with the students after getting word that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center - is that they think the President did the right thing. "I think he was trying to keep everybody calm, starting with us," says Guerrero. Dubrocq agrees: "I think he was trying to protect us." Booker Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell, who died in 2007, later insisted, "I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it have served if [Bush] had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

I always felt President Bush handled the terrible events well, and was encouraged by his calm and courage. I'll never forget his putting his arm around that firefighter at the wreckage of the World Trade Center, the words he said there, the first pitch he threw out at the World Series, the way he pursued a course of action that was a bold effort to defend liberty and to bring the fight to the enemy.

It's nice to see that the children that sat with the president that morning had the same take away as I.


With a hat tip to Roxeanne de Lucca over at Haemet.

My Interest Lay With The Crowd Outside

With the Royal Wedding such a recent, warm memory, one's thoughts go to the handsome young prince and his beautiful bride. It's fun to note then that our friend from the British Isles, though appreciative of the prince's good luck at convincing young Miss Kate to marry him, was most cheered with what he saw of the people of England itself:

"Because the civilised majority work to entirely different codes from the minority that control the culture it is all too easy for them to be underrated in their capacity to resist indoctrination. Having denied them a voice, the leftist establishment frequently makes the mistake of thinking they don’t exist at all. This mistaken belief is only strengthened by the good people's refusal - perhaps suicidal, but admirable all the same - to revolt whenever they are fresh oppressed.
...

So suddenly there they were: still alive, and still among us, terrifying the establishment with their heretic decency, good-naturedness, enthusiasm for tradition, and refusal to be embarrassed by their nationality or their flag. Like plague rats they came, swarming over leftist consensus, their weapons the steadfast refusal to hate anybody, or to view monarchical privilege as an injustice crying out for blood."

Love that Venerable Bede. Read his whole piece here.

Say It Ain't So, Joe

..the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable..

the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable You just gotta love Joe Biden. Though there is a lot of excitment and speculation as to how the mission to kill or capture bin Laden went down, most security officials are rather circumspect as to specifics. Here is a typical Q and A between a member of the press and a Pentagon defense official:

Q: "Can I ask you, can you confirm that it was a (Navy) SEAL team? And was this a specially designated team that had been practising or reviewing intelligence for a while and they were the unit of choice?"

A:"Not going to comment on units or numbers."

Now here is our Vice President at a dinner at the Washington’s Ritz Carlton Hotel last night:

"Let me briefly acknowledge tonight’s distinguished honorees. Admiral James Stavridis is a, is the real deal. He can tell you more about and understands the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALs and what they did last Sunday."

And a little later in the evening:

"Folks, I’d be remiss also if I didn’t say an extra word about the incredible events, extraordinary events of this past Sunday. As Vice President of the United States, as an American, I was in absolute awe of the capacity and dedication of the entire team, both the intelligence community, the CIA, the SEALs. It just was extraordinary."

This is the guy that the Dems were so sure had the experience and gravitas that made him an excellent VP choice over the hapless and silly Sarah Palin.

What a maroon!

Check out the rest from the UK Telegraph's Toby Harnden.

Done With Dithering?

Allergy sufferer Hillary Rodham Clinton...  choking back a sneeze?

What's going on in this picture?

Where does your eye fall, who do you see, and who strikes you as the leader of this group of people?

My eye went immediately to Hilary Clinton, and returned there a number of times. She has the most dramatic presence in the shot. Then my eye strolled about looking at the various managers and officers. But to tell you the truth, I looked at this photo three or four times before I realized president Obama is in the shot. Yeah! There he is, sitting low against the far wall!

A White House "insider" reportedly had the following exchange with Socy Berty's Ulsterman:

"What changed the president’s position and enabled the attack against Osama Bin Laden to proceed?"

"Nothing changed with the president’s opinion – he continued to avoid having one. Every time military and intelligence officials appeared to make progress in forming a position, Jarrett would intervene and the stalling would begin again. Hillary started the ball really rolling as far as pressuring Obama began, but it was Panetta and Petraeus who ultimately pushed Obama to finally act – sort of. Panetta was receiving significant reports from both his direct CIA sources, as well as Petraeus-originating Intel. Petraeus was threatening to act on his own via a bombing attack. Panetta reported back to the president that a bombing of the compound would result in successful killing of Osama Bin Laden, and little risk to American lives. Initially, as he had done before, the president indicated a willingness to act. But once again, Jarrett intervened, convincing the president that innocent Pakistani lives could be lost in such a bombing attack, and Obama would be left attempting to explain Panetta’s failed policy. Again Obama hesitated – this time openly delaying further meetings to discuss the issue with Panetta. A brief meeting was held at this time with other officials, including Secretary Gates and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but Gates, like Panetta, was unable to push the president to act."

I have no idea how reliable this inside source is, but knowing the characters in this particular production of Hamlet, I have to say...

... it sounds about right to me.


With a tip of the fedora to Jill over at Pundit and Pundette.

Update 5/4/11

Well, Chris Cillizza has weighed in on the photo, and surprise, surprise, has taken an entirely different view. I looked at this and when I finally saw that Obama was in the photo, I saw him as peripheral and voting "Present". The man who earlier was scratching his head to try to figure out how Palin came to have a low approval rating saw the photo like this:

"The image powerfully portrays the tension and seriousness of purpose of the people gathered in the room. And, while the picture wasn’t taken with politics in mind, the message that it conveys — serious people doing a serious thing — is politically powerful, reinforcing the idea of Obama as a strong and sober leader."

Serious people doing a serious thing.. like that surprised him. What was that Costella told Abbott?

"What makes balloons go up?"

"Hot air."

"So what keeps you down?"