Steven Portnoy Aghast Over Limbaugh Tax Comments

ABC News reporter Steven Portnoy is aghast to discover Rush Limbaugh critical of the president.  Yes, the man who has been called everything under the sun by the likes of Portney has been chided as having gone too far:

Obama, Limbaugh says, is an "economic ignoramus" for not understanding how a "tax increase" on the wealthy won't stimulate growth.  Quoting an AP article from yesterday, Limbaugh pointed out Obama’s remarks at a meeting of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board that the wealthy would “take our ball and go home” if their tax cuts aren’t extended.

Limbaugh then addressed the following line to the president directly:

“Mr. Obama, our imam-child, they have already taken their trillion dollar ball home, and they’re sitting on it, you jackass.”

Damn straight.

Listen, Portnoy, don't worry about it.  Mr. Obama has to be aware that people are going to be critical of him, seeing as how he has plunged the nation into crushing debt, destabilized the world market and taken over large sections of private industry.

Moreover, Limbaugh's right.  Why do you think businesses are fiscally cautious these days?  If there is one thing markets do not like, it's instability.  With Obamonomics, we've got instability the likes of which we haven't seen since the thirties.  Despite this, the president continues to make ill considered, inane comments on tax policy and our crippled economy.

Rush Limbaugh can't raise taxes or change your health coverage.  Stop worrying about what people are saying about the president, and start worrying about what the president is saying and doing.

That's what Limbaugh's doing.

'Hopscotch' Open Thread

What did you think?

Newsweek Misses The Mark... Again

Newsweek, the weekly news magazine that famously was recently sold for a dollar, has proven its worth once again with another excursion into irrelevance.

Chris Dickey, an award winning journalist at the Paris news-desk of Newsweek has entered the discussion of Islam and its interactions with the West.

"The story has an eerie relevance to the current mood all across Europe. People are afraid, caught between terrorists who are plotting attacks against them and politicians who are not only exploiting the public’s fears but, in some cases, openly taunting the terrorists."

So from Chris Dickey's point of view, those darn European polliticians are causing their own problems, and they are doing so in the hopes that speaking about the rise of Islam in Europe and its impact on their homeland will translate into them gaining political power.

Are you kidding me?  How can Dickey so completely loose his way?  It's a cart before the horse argument that has reduced the political tension between Islam and the West to a pair of toddlers who can't get along sharing the same toy.

This then would be the nuanced insight of the left, constantly seeking to find cause in the West for the violence and oppression that is the way of the jihadists.  It is utter nonsense.  The approach casts the problem as though it is the Europeans that are narrow minded and intolerant, rather than the Islamists who wish to subdue or kill them.  An example of the distortion is the recent attention given to Geert Wilders and his comments suggesting that head scarves be taxed.  The critics use this as an example of Wilders being a rabble rouser, all the while giving a pass to the multiple threats made against Mr. Wilders life.  Mr. Wilders is a member of parliament and is a relatively protected person.  How much more dangerous would it be for a common citizen to speak critically of Islam?    The threats to Mr. Wilders life are an atempt to silence him and subdue the West, and it strikes to the heart of our long established freedoms of thought and of speech.  The religion of Islam is not harmed by Mr. Wilders expressions of his opinion, and if the Islamists seek to live in a free society they must brace themselves to be the hearers of opinions that they may not agree with.

The Dutch received 285 threats to the life of Geert Wilders in 2008 alone, and 428 death threats against Dutch politicians in all.  Geert Wilders is speaking out... he is exercising his right to speak freely.  And what he is saying is speech of a political nature that is protected. He is living in a land that is daily coming under pressure to conform to what Islam would have.   Geert Wilders is a beacon of light saying no we will not buckle under your threats and efforts to control us.  We will preserve our right to speak freely, and commenting upon the head scarves as he does is him flying in the face of those that would put him under their thumb.  He is creating room for full discourse on the part of the average dutchman.

Most of the above mentioned death threats were from Islamists who did not like what they were hearing from Dutch parliment members.  We can all recall the shockingly brutal murder of Theo Van Gogh, who had been drawing attention to the treatment of women in Islamic societies.  For his troubles an Islamist shot him repeatedly, ignoring his pleas for mercy, slit his throat and then took a letter decrying Van Gogh's 'crimes' and pinned it to him with a knife that he plunged into the dying man's chest.   Then of course there was the assassination of minister of parlimnent Pim Fortuyn, who also had been saying that the Netherlands should restrict the inflow of Islamic Immigrants to their country. Of course, Pim was not assassinated by a jihadist, but rather was shot down by Volkert Van der Gaaf, a self-described animal rights activist and environmentalist extremist who killed poor Pim because he thought Pim wanted to take advantage of Muslim immigrants.

"Wali ur-Rehman, a Pakistani Taliban leader linked to the attempted May 1 Times Square bombing, has been watching Wilders’s rise in the Netherlands. “The path that the Dutch government is following is very dangerous.  They will have to pay the price for putting a ban on Islamic values and ridiculing them.”"

Really?

Geert Wilders is a brave man who is not likely to die a natural death.  Meanwhile, award winning Newsweek journalist Chris Dickey wonders if it is all a stunt Wilders is trying to pull off to gain votes in the Dutch parliament.

Sheesh.

Geller Challenges the Fatwa

Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugged is a highly capable blogger and conservative apologist who has put herself through the trial of dealing with the left leaning islamo-proponents on the national media's tilt table forums time and time again. 

Everybody's favorite Bob Belvedere of The Camp of The Saints has a great piece which highlights her struggles against the tide of "politically correct" nonsense:

"Pam Geller is a relentless warrior for The West in this clash of the cultures of light and darkness. She is a modern-day Elizabeth I, giving all to ferociously defend the country and values she holds dear, yet never forsaking her feminine side."

Nice.  Read the rest here.

Where is Gloria Allred When You Need Her?

She's quick to show up when the gals who took a romp in the Woods are looking for an 'apology' from the famous golfer, or when a buxom Citibank worker claims she was fired because she was 'too hot'.  She's even there when a former maid is looking to get her travel expenses from a year ago back.  But where is Gloria Allred when you really need her?

Recently fired news anchor Rick Sanchez may be wondering just that very question.  Certainly he had some issues with the termination of his employment, but Ms. Allred's glowing face, complete with Cheshire cat like grin were no where to be seen.

Coco Rico has some sharp criticism of the media response in his Tale of Two Offended Latinos:

The reason for the different responses is obvious:

1. Latinos who can't speak articulately operate on the level of pathos and can be used by liberals for dramatic effect. Meg Whitman's former maid has little control over what's being discussed. The Democrats can use her like a tool before they throw her away later on. Rick Sanchez is educated and well spoken; there is no way to manipulate him in the same way.

2. Latinos who have a grievance against someone coded as conservative are quickly given a special status. Latinos who have a grievance against someone coded as "liberal" are seen as traitors and destroyed.

That's on the money. Read the rest here.

'The Searchers' Open Thread

What did you think?

Gloria Allred Seeks Travel Expenses For Illegal Alien Client

Allred all smiles, her client not so much.

Gloria Allred, attorney and political opportunist, has filed a claim seeking reimbursement for the travel time for her client Nicky Diaz Santillion.  Ms. Diaz Santillion was released from the employment of Meg Whitman last June when it was discovered that she was in fact an illegal alien.  Ms. Diaz had falsified information to the Social Security Administration.  The payment claims, filed a year after her termination, amount to a few hundred dollars, but stand to impact the political race for governor of California being run between former California governor Jerry Brown and Ms. Whitman.


"Allred, who is well-known for orchestrating media stunts, has not permitted Diaz Santillan to answer a single question from reporters over two days of news conferences. The former housekeeper read a brief, prepared statement Wednesday that alleged brusque treatment during her nine-year tenure."


Asked why she had not reported the irregularity earlier, Ms. Whitman replied she did not want to subject Ms. Diaz Santillion to the scrutiny and possible legal ramifications of her actions.

Employers in the State of California are under no obligation to report illegal aliens. They simply are not allowed to hire them.

Ms. Allred's political friends stand to gain a great deal from the insertion of Ms. Diaz Santillion into the campaign. For her trouble Ms. Diaz Santillion has been exposed to significant legal repercussions. Allred has made a useful pawn of her.

Despicable behavior.