Germans celebrate sO!cialism...again...

~*~

Seems that they should know better.

---

John Ford, Tennessee's most corrupt politician, will probably never leave prison alive.

...unless or course there's some interference and intervention by some other politicians. Again.

(Because I couldn't find an appropriate prison shower scene, and that 'dropped soap' meme is so...gauche...)

Mr. Ford was sentenced to 66 months in prison in August 2007 for bribery charges; he started serving time in a Louisiana prison in April (after another State Senator (Cohen) intervened to keep him 'closer to home' and out of a Texas Federal Prison) (see what I mean by 'interference and intervention'?)

Just last Friday, July 19 2008, Harold John Ford was convicted of further corruption charges. He could face up to 60 more years in prison. Unless Cohen storms the prison and frees him, of course.

From the Knoxnews article...

"Prosecutors said the decision shows government corruption will be vigorously pursued.

"This sends a clear message that public corruption will not be tolerated in this district," said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Rivera.

...

"Prosecutors told the jury that Ford had a duty to the people of Tennessee but chose instead to serve himself. Ford's attorney, however, asked jurors not to convict his client just because he may be controversial.

[emboldenings mine] Huh? Controversial? Is that the new euphemism for "lying weasel scumbag dirtball crooked politician"? And if so, can a defense attorney hope for a dismissal because that word seems less threatening?

Nah, we the people got what we deserved: a conviction. And M. Ford is getting what he deserves as well. With or without dropped soap.

Canz we hav more Tennessee Waltz plz?

---

John Edwards will not be Obama's VP. Because he got caught with his mistress Rielle Hunter and their 'love child'.

Edwards was caught trysting with Rielle Hunter in a Los Angeles Hotel last night by the National Enquirer. ..

Said reporter Hitchen: "After we confronted him about seeing Rielle, Edwards looked like a deer caught in headlights!

"He was clearly surprised that we had caught him at this very late hour inside the hotel.

"Some guests up at this late hour watched the spectacle in amusement from a staircase nearby."

Thank you National Enquirer. This exposure couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Now, see what you can find out about that Obama fellow. Or his wife. Seems the 'real' media is much too enthralled with the Messiah to even care about that quaint old concept 'journalism'.

---

h/t Dan Collins

John McCain's new ad...Pump TV "Don't hO!pe for more energy. Vote for it.

Glenn Reynolds thinks this new ad will get some traction.

I've always thought so. Click this image to watch the video...

Or watch it here.



Misery. Indexed. File under: 'Democrats'.

---

Barack Obama admits The Surge has succeeded. McCain was right, Obama was (and still is) wrong.

Barack Obama, admitting what he hates to have to admit: “You see the activity taking place, the people in the shops, the traffic on the streets, clearly there’s been an enormous improvement,” he said.

John McCain, shining the light on Barack's earlier wrongness: “I’m glad that Senator Obama is going to get a chance for the first time to sit down with Gen. David Petraeus and understand what the surge was all about,” Mr. McCain said on NBC, referring to the troop-increase plan last year that he strongly supported even as Mr. Obama was calling for withdrawal.

“I hope he will have a chance to admit that he badly misjudged the situation, and he was wrong when he said that the surge wouldn’t work,” Mr. McCain continued. “It has succeeded and we’re winning the war.”

Obama was, and still is, clueless.

Obama was chosen to represent the Democrats because he gave a nice speech in 2002. Obama was chosen because he reads a teleprompter well. Obama was chosen because he is black, and Democrats think that he can't be criticized; if criticized, they can bring out the 'Racism!' brush and quickly do away with the criticisms.

Obama is a product of Chicago politics, always know for having the worst in this nation. Reeeezko!

Obama spent 20 years listening a non-Christian minister in a mock-church, and absorbed the trappings of Black Liberation Theology, where his 'spiritual guide' begged for God to Damn America. And blamed 9/11 on America...'your chickens are coming home to roost'.

Obama gathered knows terrorists close to his vest. William Ayers, who bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon, and the State Department in the '70's. And is sorry he didn't bomb more.

Ayers went on to tell the students: “People ask, ‘Do you regret anything you did against the government in those days?’ And my answer is: no, I don’t.”

In an interview in The New York Times on the day of the September 11 attacks, when he was promoting Fugitive Days, his book on the Weathermen, Ayers said: “I don’t regret setting bombs,” and added: “I feel we didn’t do enough.”

Obama's buddy. Figures.

Oh, and terrorists are supporting Obama. Al-Jazeera and Hamas both love them some Obama.

But we have jackasses here in America who would froth at the mouth because John McCain slipped in a gaffe.

Obama himself is a 'Gaffe machine'. Take away the teleprompter, he's lost.

He sees dead people.

Not much better with maps that McCain...

In one of his more egregious and easily demonstrated lies, made even more so by the day he decided to let it loose on, Obama has rewritten WWII history such that the allies liberated Auschwitz.

…Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz…

Auschwitz of course is in Poland. It was liberated by the Red Army on Jan 27 1945. Poland, on most maps is usually placed to the east of Germany, although we may need to investigate the geography textbooks the Messiah used as a child…

Or maybe that was just a flat-out lie.

Oh. And he doesn't even know what language is spoken in Afghanistan...

"We don't have enough capacity right now to deal with it -- and it's not just the troops," Obama, D-Ill., told a crowd in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Obama posited -- incorrectly -- that Arabic translators deployed in Iraq are needed in Afghanistan -- forgetting, momentarily, that Afghans don't speak Arabic.

"We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then its harder for us to use them in Afghanistan," Obama said.

This guy, Obama, is a walking, talking, unfunny disaster. Waiting to happen to America.

There's a new documentary-movie due out September 1...HYPE: The Obama Effect. Release date: September 1.

The Hype Machine that is the MSM dwarfs all the efforts we who oppose The SO!cialist can muster.

But we'll keep plugging. Obama's negatives are increasing, and his lead over John McCain is decreasing. John McCain will probably pick Mitt Romney later this week as VP. Or Bobby Jindal. Either Mitt or Bobby will be Obama's worst nightmare.

This ain't over yet.

There's a new documentary-movie due out September 1...HYPE: The Obama Effect.

David Bossie, head of Citizens United, is releasing this film just in time for the election season. Bloomberg calls 'Swift Boat'. I call 'too little, too late'. The Hype Machine that is the MSM dwarfs all the efforts we who oppose The SO!cialist can muster.

But, I'll check the site for local theaters, and post the info. Release date September 1.

Here's the 30-second TV spot. Visit the site for the movie's trailer.

---

Obama's Hopey, Fluffy Puffiness: Is it Time Magazine's coverage, or the Onion's? Wait. it's...it's...Hopey Puffs!

The Onion's latest bit of satire inspires this 'chop....

thanks, Dan, for the help.

'Time' Publishes Definitive Obama Puff Piece

"No news publication has dared to barely scratch the surface like this before," columnist and campaign reporter Michael King wrote in The Washington Post Tuesday. "This profile sets a benchmark for mindless filler by which all other features about Sen. Obama will now be judged. Just impressive puff-journalism all around."

If you didn't check the URL, you would think this isn't a spoof at all, given Barack's light, fluffy, puffy treatment by the MSM.

Don't you just love it when supposedly trained reporters throw off real journalism to feed a politician's hype machine? If it weren't for a few bloggers, Barack wouldn't have anything but smooth sailing to the presidency.

And we'd have Jeremiah Wright in a cabinet-level posting--probably as Oligarch of the newly-formed Black Liberation Ministry.

I don't know which is puffier...the coverage Barack Obama gets from our his subservient, quiescent, fawning media, or the content of his amorphous ever-changey platform positionings.

Barack Obama's platform? Now there's an Escher print waiting for change...

---

"The Gilly" awarded at the Nutroots convention in Austin, Texas

"Netroots Nation"--formerly known as the Yearly Kos Convention--is a splendid affair (I'm sure) that's been going on all weekend, July 17-20, 2008. Featuring the creme de la creme of the nutroots: the 'elite' of the leftist bloggers (and their leashed politicians); and over-the-top BDS sorts of all stripes (although mostly those with a yellow stripe running right down their backs...) Just about everything you can imagine that's counter to what's Conservative in America is on display.

Air America finally gets a captive audience. Maybe now they can claim more than 10 listeners.

Al Gore couldn't miss his chance to see his constituents, and beg for more Global Warming activism...

"Thank you for the movement that you have created," Mr. Gore said. "I can't tell you how important I think it is that you continue what you are doing."

Gore was the 'surprise' guest of Nancy Pelosi, who had some love for her maggots in attendance...

"The end could be in sight," she said to cheers from the audience. "This will not happen without the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States."

The end of what, Nancy? The end of the excellent run we've had for decades? With the implementation of economy-destroying carbon-taxing Gorebage.

From Dr. David Evans, a consultant for the Australian Greenhouse Office from 1999 to 2005, a new question for Mr. Gore and his paid acolytes...

"But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

There has not been a public debate about the causes of global warming and most of the public and our decision makers are not aware of the most basic salient facts:

1. The greenhouse signature is missing. We have been looking and measuring for years, and cannot find it.

...

2. There is no evidence to support the idea that carbon emissions cause significant global warming. None. There is plenty of evidence that global warming has occurred, and theory suggests that carbon emissions should raise temperatures (though by how much is hotly disputed) but there are no observations by anyone that implicate carbon emissions as a significant cause of the recent global warming.

3. The satellites that measure the world's temperature all say that the warming trend ended in 2001, and that the temperature has dropped about 0.6C in the past year (to the temperature of 1980). Land-based temperature readings are corrupted by the "urban heat island" effect: urban areas encroaching on thermometer stations warm the micro-climate around the thermometer, due to vegetation changes, concrete, cars, houses. Satellite data is the only temperature data we can trust, but it only goes back to 1979. NASA reports only land-based data, and reports a modest warming trend and recent cooling. The other three global temperature records use a mix of satellite and land measurements, or satellite only, and they all show no warming since 2001 and a recent cooling.

4. The new ice cores show that in the past six global warmings over the past half a million years, the temperature rises occurred on average 800 years before the accompanying rise in atmospheric carbon. Which says something important about which was cause and which was effect.

But, really, that's not the purpose of this here post.

Nearly everyone will remember the events surrounding the unfortunate early death of Steve Gilliard last year. That death caused some repercussions amongst the blog community here in Tennessee. Water under the bridge.

Now, this new award...the Gilly. What we know of Steve Gilliard is that he was a far-left blogger, primarily of note because he was the one who created the blackface photoshop of Michael Steele...

"In the incident that brought him the most infamy, Gilliard acidly attacked Michael Steele, the black Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2006, as a traitor to his race. Black conservatives like Steele infuriated Gilliard, who couldn’t understand how any African-American could support a party that exploited racial prejudice. “I’s Simple Sambo and I’s Running for the Big House,” read Gilliard’s caption, below a doctored photo of Steele as a minstrel. Only after the post earned him headlines in major newspapers and recriminations from politicians of both parties did a lot of readers come to understand that a white man hadn’t written it — although, for Gilliard’s critics, that hardly made it less offensive."

Now, his leftover legacy blog, the Group News Blog (I affectionately call that bunch of agitprops the 'Liberal's News Blog' in my RSS feed) has a new Award, The Gilly, presented at this Nutroots Nation. See the original post and drawing linked here.

Of course, I had to fix that award.

Because if you're gonna give a freakin' award, you have to make it recognizable, don't you? How else were we to know?

;D

---

BDS: the Payback ver.7.08

A nice billboard in Orange County, Florida.

Is this inappropriate? Depends on what the definition of "seven years of BDS" is.

I won't complain.

Brings a smile to my stone face.

;D

---

h/t SondraK

---

John Cole, on the New Yorker cover kerfuffle. And, our U.S. Economy as a 'Powder Keg' revisited...

Seen at Theo Spark's

---

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I was working on this 'chop yesterday, for my post on our U.S. Economy as a Financial Powder Keg, but I didn't have a good trigger mechanism. When I saw Theo's post this morning, well, there's your trigger.

Obama is not good for our economy. If anything, he'll doom U.S. to socialism.

But that's the direction many of today's less-than willing leftist sorts want to go.

Money for nothing, and your cradle-to-grave no-fault protection plan (care of the U.S. Taxpayer) for free.

---

"We're sitting on a Financial Powder Keg" -- Richard C. Shelby. Democrats declare Socialism is the answer.

As in, we're living on the edge of a financial crisis that's getting ready to blow.

Our economy is so stressed there's nothing the U.S. Government can do to fix it.

No more wiggle room on interest rates. They've been lowered to combat the mortgage crisis, and to fight the specter of a recession.

Because we can't raise interest rates, inflation is roaring, riding the back of fuel costs that drive up...every other cost. Food, clothing, shelter, the basics of survival, all of these are directly affected by oil prices.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke...

Bernanke warned that the U.S. economy faces "numerous difficulties," that the outlook for inflation is unclear and that "financial markets and institutions remain under considerable stress."

President Bush...

"The president doesn't have a magic wand." He was answering a question about soaring fuel prices but his remarks seemed to sum up the government's overall predicament.

Budget deficits, skyrocketing. Stocks, down, and jittery. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (holding or guaranteeing 50% of our home mortgages) stocks are down 80%, and investors aren't selling bonds to finance new mortgages. That's not good news.

IndyMac failed last week. Police were called yesterday to tell people lined up outside a branch (since 1:00 Monday morning) to keep calm or their asses would be jailed. Bush, yesterday, on calmness...

"I happened to witness a bank run in Midland, Texas, one time. I'll never forget the guy standing in the bank lobby saying, your deposits are good. We got you insured. You don't have to worry about it if you got less than $100,000 in the bank. The problem was, people didn't hear. And there's a ... nervousness. My hope is, is that people take a deep breath and realize that their deposits are protected by our government."

Of $19 billion in IndyMac deposits, $1 billion won't be covered under FDIC guarantees. People should've paid more attention to the $100K ceiling that the FDIC imposes. Tough luck.

Bernanke...

"Financial stability is critical to economic stability."

Really, Bernanke? Who knew?

So into this mess steps the Democrats, ready to pick up the pieces and MoveOn.

Move. On. To what?

To what the leftists desire, of course. Move on to a more socialist sort of nation. With newly nationalized welfare (sorry, 'volunteer') programs, costly and unaffordable universal health care, and as-yet unannounced (but we know they're out there) programs and bailouts: amounting to a costly New O! Deal. We hear Baracky on the stump: a drumbeat of socialism, populism, and ever-flipping salesmanship.

Nothing new, but in today's troubled economic times, nearly everyone is ripe for populist picking. Democrats have always used the carrot of socialism to attract easy votes. Always. We are raising a generation of kids who believe the government exists only to respond to their 'needs'. They want not just a seldom-used safety net, but a permanent cradle and a warm blanket, forget any responsibility, just give 'em an easy life.

"And young Americans seem readier than older Americans to turn to government for the solution. Eighty-six percent say more government programs should help those struggling under the current economic conditions."

The Democrat's use of socialism to attract minority voters is working...

"Ninety-six percent of African-Americans and 88 percent of Latinos believe the economy is on the wrong track. Congress is not the only political institution that gets a share of the blame:. Almost 80 percent of African-Americans say the president is hindering their pursuit of economic security."

So, to pay for these excesses, we'll tax more of the 'rich'.

Make no mistake about it: Obama’s plan to raise taxes on households making more than $250,000 will raise taxes on most small-business profits in America.

What type of tax rate are we talking about? Currently, S corporations face a top tax rate of 35 percent, while sole proprietors and general partners face a tax rate of 37.9 percent (since they’re responsible for paying both income tax and the Medicare component of the payroll tax).

Under Obama’s plan to let the scheduled 2011 tax rate hikes occur, and his plan to raise the self-employment tax on those making more than $250,000, the S corporation rate would rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. The sole proprietor and partner rate would rise from 37.9 percent all the way up to a staggering 50.3 percent. Many Democrats in Congress have proposed making all small businesses (including S corporations) pay this 50-plus percent rate. A small business tax rate that high would be the highest marginal rate faced by them in nearly a quarter-century.

We'll see plenty of good businesses fail, and the incentives to start a new business..well, who wants to work anyways?

Just let someone else pay your way.

It's the New O! Deal.

Obama: "I'll rid the world of NUKES!"

"...that is, if I don't change my mind for political expediency and do something differently.

Because I'm limber that way~!"

(Oh, I forgot to ask...May I mock, Barack?)

crossed to Tennessee Free

---

h/t Ace

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Progressiveness...internal divisiveness punished in the name of GROUPTHINK

You knew these were coming. See SondraK's t-shirt lineup.

The extreme anger from the Left over the New Yorker cover, however misplaced, will be put to good use as an example of how far they would go to limit speech and promote groupthink. The original artist (and New Yorker's editor) are destined to be in 'Liberal Dog House' forever.

We’ve seen the maddened left wrest ambiguous meaning and still-murky intent away from the artist and turn it completely inside out, and enjoyed the popcorn while the artist’s target audience beats him and his editor to a pulp! And, we’ve added that silly drawing to the trophy case of political mistakes where we all can laugh at it for the rest of this political season (and on into the future) while the Obamas fume.

Still, in fairness to the outlier artist, I believe there’s something else not yet uncovered…a whiff of vindictive nuance…because much of this backlash was so obviously predictable. There has to be someone behind a curtain. Not so much pulling the artist’s string, but definitely his editor’s.

Smells of male Clinton.

---

New Yorker Magazine, forthcoming 7/21/08: Terrorist OBAMAS on the COVER

NOT photoshopped.

This is the real deal.

The New Yorker is a liberal rag. Why do you suppose we'll see a cover featuring Barack Obama and M'chelle, fist bumping together in the Oval Office, with Baracky dressed like a tribal version of Osama bin Laden (whose picture is on the wall above the fireplace, in which an American flag is burning), and with M'Chelle dressed like a Ché Guevara revolutionary? Hmmmm?

There's satire and parody involved, I suppose. I guess New Yorker wants to make fun of the stuff some Americans believe; to hardy-har-har the e-mails circulating that are showing Baracky in Muslim drab (that never happened...did it?)

This is going to backfire. New Yorker will hear from the nutroots. The MSM backlash is already starting.

From ABC's Jake Tapper...

"Knowing the liberal politics of the magazine, I believe the magazine's staff when they say the illustration is meant ironically, as a parody of the caricature some conservatives (and some supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.) are painting of the Obamas.

"But it's still fairly incendiary, at least as these things go. I wonder what the reaction would be were it the Weekly Standard or the National Review putting such an illustration on their covers." [They would be CRUCIFIED! But if it were John McCain and his lovely wife, that would be just fine.. -ed.]

"Intent factors into these matters, of course, but no Upper East Side liberal -- no matter how superior they feel their intellect is -- should assume that just because they're mocking such ridiculousness, the illustration won't feed into the same beast in emails and other media. It's a recruitment poster for the right-wing." [I don't think many on the Right will consider this anything but funny...after doing a double-take and making sure we're not holding the ONION -ed.]

"This is as offensive a caricature as any magazine could publish," says a high-profile Obama supporter, "and I suspect that other Obama supporters like me are also thinking about not subscribing to or buying a magazine that trafficks in such trash." [Oh, you freakin' crybaby, Get Over It. The filth your ilk's disseminated and the lies you've repeated about George Bush would make a thousand similar magazine cover illustrations seem relatively mild. We've a lot of catch-up to do... -ed.]

I'm glad to see the old New Yorker lighten up and poke a bit of fun at the Obamessiah.

Maybe there is some Hillary revenge behind this (given New York City's loss of a possible President and the cash she could direct their way)...you never know, given she's a Clinton.

Yes, this cover is a pretty thing, isn't it?

Nothing I would ever give the New Yorker a red-state cent over, though.

---

Daily Kos: the Nutroots edition

There he sits; Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, in his element: the nutroot support system. A good-sized chunk of the Empire of Progressivism.

And is that Nancy Pelosi hanging on for dear life? Why, yes it is. Markos brags "Among luminaries posting diaries on the site are President Jimmy Carter, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and dozens of other senators, congressmen, and governors."

Those 'luminaries' know of your site's contempt and lack of respect for the recently dead? Of the Daily Hate spewed from the less 'luminary' sorts of whom the best that can be said is that they probably had mothers who tried to teach them better?

Or maybe not. These types strike me as the sort whom even a mother could denounce.

Well, Markos, you've your legacy. A rotten barrel of bad apples.

Enjoy your 'home'; you deserve every minute of it.

---

crossed to Tennessee Free

---

Update: Pablo's comment #301 at PW: "That fish starts stinking at the head. Screw them." (a reference to Markos' true feelings...)

The Daily Kos blog lost some of its political advertisers when Moulitsas published a controversial blog post in April 2004, about the non-US military Blackwater USA employees, whom he described as mercenaries, who were killed and mutilated in Fallujah, saying, "Let the people see what war is like. This isn't an Xbox game. There are real repercussions to Bush's folly. That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. [sic] They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them."

That's one rotten head.

---

DAILY KOS commentors trash Tony Snow (did we expect anything different, given that they are 'Progressives' ?)

Jeff Goldstein alerts us to the not-so-hidden inner thoughts of the people who drive the engine of progressivism, by way of comments posted on that wonderful island of tolerance and compassion, the award-winning and much-celebrated Daily KOS.

Jeff compiled quite a list of comments celebrating the unfortunate death of Tony Snow. Tony died yesterday, of colon cancer. A compassionate human KOS diarist (not so many of those) posted a tribute to Tony, but other 'Progressives' were quick to spout their true feelings.

Just a quick sample, a few KOS comments on that tribute thread. Many more at Protein Wisdom...

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THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS FROM DAILY KOS

HIs death sucks? (0+ / 0-)

If only his cancer was contagious and the thugs he worked for caught it, it would have saved the suffering of actual innocent people. He was part of the mafia that took over this country and frankly, I’m glad he’s dead.

...

It is indeed hard to lose a loved one. But I can’t even muster any good thoughts to send his family and friends.

Here is a man who could of used his power and talents to help people, to better the world. And he didn’t — in fact he did the complete opposite. He was a liar, we all know what the consequences of those lies have been and will continue to be until God knows when.

I am not sad he’s gone. Sorry if that’s offensive to anyone. I’ll save my sorrow for those who suffered because of the lies Mr. Snow pertetuated.

...

There is a certain irony in him being killed by his own rotten ass.

...

Snow was a shit head piece of FOX NEWS lying crap. He and the rest of BushCo need to be jailed.

That anyone here would dare praise him is beyond an insult to Progressive Democrats like me.

UNREAL!

...

F**k Tony Snow, early & often (3+ / 3-)

He’s in the deepest corner of Hell right now, bent over next to Joe Goebbels, with Satan’s forked dick way up in his rotten cancerous colon.

---

Enough of that.

Since Jeff's post, KOS pulled the plug on this diarist, but not before this exposure. Jeff's given permission to disseminate his post, so here are his thoughts...

" Make no mistake. These are people whose self-proclaimed compassion extends only to those who agree with them — or at least have manners enough to pretend to — and this includes a willingness to turn en masse on one of their own, as the Kos diarist responsible for trying to cast Snow in a more “human” light is finding out today.

"The rest of us are their mortal enemies, and our deaths are to be celebrated, and even embroidered with colorful fantasies about finding ourselves deep in hell, where we’ll be eternally cornholed by the forked cock of Satan.

"To vote these people into power by way of their representative proxies is to ensure that we move more and more toward a totalitarian society in which “hate speech” comes to mean anything not sanctioned by those who legislate themselves into the position of moral arbitrators.

"All I want to do is tend my garden. But if it comes down to it, I’ll use my weed whacker to defend the perimeter.

"Bet on it."

Not so much left to say, but RIP Tony Snow, and condolences to your family.

You progressives, it's time for some meditation. Because those KOS comments are yours, and your mindset. Whether you admit it or not.

Own it.

IndyMac Bancorp Inc. collapse caused by loudmouthed U.S. Senator Charles "ChUckY" Shumer, D NY

Words mean things, Chucky. And so do letters.

Charles Schumer wrote a letter June 26 that rattled California's IndyMac BanCorp.'s depositors and started a run on the bank. Despite efforts by IndyMac's regulators to calm the masses, the bank collapsed Friday and was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision, who turned the bank's assets over to the FDIC.

"The Pasadena, California-based lender specialized in so-called Alt-A mortgages, which didn't require borrowers to provide documentation on their incomes. The demise adds to the crisis caused by the subprime collapse and may mean regulators will have to raise more money to support the federal deposit insurance program that repays customers when a bank fails.

``IndyMac is the vanguard, the precursor of more stuff coming,'' said Christopher Whalen..."

Chucky's role...

The director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, John Reich, blamed IndyMac's failure on comments made in late June by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), who sent a letter to the regulator raising concerns about the bank's solvency. In the following 11 days, spooked depositors withdrew a total of $1.3 billion. Mr. Reich said Sen. Schumer gave the bank a "heart attack."

"Would the institution have failed without the deposit run?" Mr. Reich asked reporters. "We'll never know the answer to that question."

We may soon see the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, those US Government agencies that buy mortgages and package them as securities. WE, the taxpayers, are already responsible (as guarantors) for IndyMac, and may soon have to eat the Freddie and Fannie pies as well.

"As quoted companies, Fannie and Freddie raise capital through the stock market and issue bonds in the fixed income market just like other companies, but there has always been a fundamental ambiguity about who is ultimately guaranteeing the mortgages.

"Markets have long assumed that, given that they were established by Congress, they will be backstopped by the Government. So if they go bust, and by some measures they are already technically insolvent, either they go under and interest rates rise as the US mortgage market seizes up, or the Government bails them out at vast cost to the budget deficit, which also means rates go up."

If we do have to absorb these losses, you can bet that such Obama Promises as Universal Health Care will be on permanent hold.

There's only so much taxpayers can absorb before the Government backstops fail, and the U.S. Treasury defaults. We should demand that both of the presidential candidate's promises to wide-eyed, expectant, liberal-minded citizens for vaporous Government giveaways -- promises designed primarily to lure these uninformed voters -- need to be backed by hard data that details the funding sources. Otherwise they need to stop promising things that will be impossible to deliver.

Jesse Jackson: "I wanna cut his [Barack Obama's] n*ts off" UPDATED!

!~*~Jesse, just what would you do with them if they were delivered to you on, say, a silver platter?

Seems I wasn't so far off in my foresightedness....



First steps, no?

;D

---

UPDATED
I was in a hurry this morning, and didn't finish my thoughts.

Jesse Jackson's 'mis-speak' was not accidental. We see how those on the left detest Fox News. Should we now believe that one of those who detestes the mostestes would go to Fox and accidentally ‘whisper’ into a live mike?

Rev. Jackson hates on Fox News just a little over a year ago...

“I am disappointed by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s partnership with FOX, and strongly encourage them to reverse that decision. Why would presidential candidates, or an organization that is supposed to advocate for Black Americans, ever give a stamp of legitimacy to a network that continually marginalizes Black leaders and the Black community? FOX moderating a presidential debate on issues of importance to Black Americans is literally letting the Fox guard the henhouse – FOX should be rejected.”

Just wait...Jesse will denounce and blame Fox for this before the cock crows thrice.

Jesse wanted this to be heard. Jesse is, for the first time in his political career, marginalized; on the outside looking in, at the first Black candidate in American history who can win this election, and if Barack Obama wins he will do so without the help of the ‘old guard’ Black politicos: Jesse Jackson (and that other one…see? how easily we tend to forget them!)

Jesse craves attention. And money, of course. So, Baracky, throw Jesse a bone sack. Full of cash. He’ll shut up for a while…he always does.

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crossed to PW Pub

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Red State: San Francisco mimes to musically (and fabulously!) mock (conservative) Midwest values

Darleen Click brings 'Red State' to our attention...

Nothing says cutting-edge performance art like the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s new summer production “Red State”. It cuts a wide swath through “conservative shibboleths” set to the 12 bar blues and, of course, while dressed fabulously.

Wonderful. We've six gay mimes mocking. But without mentioning any 'actual candidates' from the current election cycle; instead mentioning President George Bush (continuing to lead as the Left's most hated man evah) and the ProggHero Franklin (New Deal, let's steal!) Roosevelt.

I thought the image provided didn't reflect the fears of the SF Left. Since Obama wasn't mentioned by name, I felt that His presence was necessary to show the actual fears this troupe (and the rest of the Obama supporters) have about the Midwest voters (well, about any voter who decides not to pull the lever for their messiah.)

But the problem with messiahs is that they always wind up martyred, no?

U.S. Congress has single-digit 'approval' rating; 52% say Congress really, really sucks

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have bottomed-out the approval ratings for the third of our Government they are privileged to lead, garnering the lowest ever approval ratings the Congress has ever had. Last month, they managed only 11% approval ratings.

Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters: July 1, 2008

How would you rate the way Congress is doing it's job?

• Excellent 2%
• Good 7%
• Fair 36%
• Poor 52%

By comparison, President George Bush had a 32% approval rating in June. That's three times higher than our Democrat-controlled Congress.

But the Supreme Court earned my approval last month, after their decision finding for Heller over Washington D.C. That decision definitely took a lot of pressure off of some single-issue voters (gun rights) and has done wonders for Bob Barr. Bob makes for the best protest vote.

Republicans for Barr