Mark Steyn on the Laura Ingraham Show

November 18, 2009. Topics include Obama in China, the first post-American president, the decline of America, comparing Obama's toughness with Tea Parties and Fox News and his wimpiness with foreign leaders, Sarah Palin's book tour.

Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

If only state-run media would devote 1 person to fact check Obama and his Marxist White House

AP Turns Heads for Devoting 11 Reporters to Palin Book 'Fact Check'
by Robert Shaffer | FOXNews.com | Updated November 17, 2009
Reviewing books and holding public figures accountable is at the core of good journalism, but the Associated Press' treatment of Palin's book seems an unprecedented move at the wire service

Sarah Palin is no normal politician, and at the Associated Press, apparently "Going Rogue" is no normal book.

When the former Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor wrote her autobiography, the AP found a copy before its release date and assigned 11 people to fact check all 432 pages.

The AP claims Palin misstated her record with regard to travel expenses and taxpayer-funded bailouts, using statements widely reported elsewhere. But it also speculated into Palin's motives for writing "Going Rogue: An American Life," stating as fact that the book "has all the characteristics of a pre-campaign manifesto."

Palin quickly hit back on a Facebook post titled "Really? Still Making Things Up?"

"Imagine that," the post read. "11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to 'fact check' what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hasan's associations, etc. Amazing."

read more

Trial and Terror

The Left gets its reckoning.
By Andrew C. McCarthy | National Review Online | November 16, 2009 10:00 AM

The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other top al-Qaeda terrorists to New York City for a civilian trial is one of the most irresponsible ever made by a presidential administration. That it is motivated by politics could not be more obvious. That it spells unprecedented danger for our security will soon become obvious.

The five 9/11 plotters were originally charged in a military commission. Military commissions have been approved by Congress and the courts. Eleven months ago, the jihadists were prepared to end the military case by pleading guilty and proceeding to execution. Plus, the Obama administration is continuing the commission system for other enemy combatants accused of war crimes.

If we are going to have military commissions for any war criminals, it is senseless not to have them for the worst war criminals. In sum, there is no good legal or policy rationale for transferring these barbarians to the civilian justice system. Doing so will prompt a hugely costly three-ring circus of a trial, provide a soapbox for al-Qaeda’s anti-American bile, and create a public-safety nightmare for New York City.

read the whole thing

The Huge Mistake: Why cap and trade would be bad for the environment and the economy

This video, produced by EPA enforcement attorneys speaking on their own personal behalf, explains why cap-and-trade, while applicable for acid rain, will not work for climate change. It explains why a fee-and-dividend approach is more appropriate and will benefit the environment and the economy. Economists call this the "double dividend."

The video is divided into three sections.

1. The Big Lie which is that cap-and-trade will work for climate change. The reality is that cap-and-trade works great for acid rain, but would not work for climate change.

2. The Big Rip-Off which discusses how carbon offsets make things even worse because they can be easily gamed and because all the money will flow to the cheapest offsets.

3. The real solution which discusses fee-and-rebate which provides a double benefit, helping both the environment and economy.

###

The real solution is not government taking your money and giving it back. The real solution will never involve lawyers and regulators and eco-fascists.

If Obama is so Smart, why Isn’t He Better at Being President?

Jennifer Rubin - 11.17.2009 - 8:08 AM

Obama was the subject of many a pundit’s admiration. So smart! So worldly! Harvard Law Review. And so eloquent. That his speeches upon further reflection were practically unintelligible or self-parodies (are we the ones we have been waiting for? are the oceans really going to recede?) didn’t much matter. He was so smart.

So why isn’t his presidency going better than it is? Seriously, if he’s so smart and well-educated, shouldn’t he have come up with something better than the stimulus boondoggle? Shouldn’t he have gotten sanctions passed on Iran or figured out how not to offend both sides in the Middle East non-peace process? As Bret Stephens points out, we have gotten “bloated government, deficits and health-care bills; paralysis over Afghanistan and Iran; the convulsions over Gitmo and the CIA torture memos.” And then the mind-numbingly idiotic decision to put KSM in a Manhattan courtroom to preach the wonders of jihad and go after his captors. None of this seems very smart.

read more

Andy Stern -- Obama's favorite visitor to the White House not a lobbyist

How Andy Stern Got Around Obama’s “No Lobbyist” Policy; He Just Didn’t Register
by Brian Johnson | BigGovernment.com

President Obama has always made a pretty big deal about not working with “lobbyists”. Registered lobbyists can’t get stimulus money, can’t be White House advisors and are not allowed access to meetings and summits. So how does one get around that? It’s simple; you just don’t register as a lobbyist. That’s what Andy Stern did and it may come back to bite him.

read more

Tea Party Protesters Assaulted by Illegal Alien Amnesty Supporters in Ft. Lauderdale

Pro-commie Che supporters for President Obama's Amnesty plans attacked Tea Party Against Amnesty & Illegal Immigration demonstrators in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Sat. November 14, 2009. One of the men attacked is 62 years old. Dave Caulkett of FLIMEN (Floridians for Immigration Enforcement) is assaulted and then kicked in the face while he is down. The other camera man from the Tea Party is hit with several signs.

Those attacking the Americans that oppose Amnesty for illegal aliens were organized by ANSWER Florida.

Michelle Malkin comments here.
Comments from Powerline here.

No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path

SEIU thugs vs. the Boy Scouts — and other related Big Labor antics
By Michelle Malkin • November 16, 2009 09:29 AM

Hey, you know all that high-minded talk from President Obama about calling young people to serve their country?

Well, if it conflicts with Big Labor’s interests, children, there’s a new message: Knock it off!

The Purple Shirted-thugs of the Service Employees International Union — ACORN’s alter ego and Obama’s most frequent visitor — are going after an Eagle Scout who poses a threat to their workers because he’s volunteering too much.

From the Allentown Morning Call:

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city’s largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

”We’ll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails,” Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn’t targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city’s decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said ”there’s to be no volunteers.” No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

America's first "pacifist" president?

November 15, 2009 | Powerline | Posted by Paul at 8:26 PM

President Obama declared in Tokyo that he is "America's first Pacific president." He thus displayed, simultaneously, his Obama-centric view of the world and his ignorance of American history and geography.

Asian countries have become understandably nervous about the Obama admnistration's policy of "strategic reassurance," whereby the U.S. tries to convince the Chinese that it has no intention of containing their rising power, a pledge Obama reiterated in his Tokyo speech. Does Obama really believe nations like India and Japan, that must deal with the consequences of China's rising power, will take any comfort from the fact that Obama lived in Indonesia and Hawaii when he was young? Sadly, Obama may be sufficiently egomanical to believe just that.

Obama's self-description is not only irrelevant, it is inaccurate. Several presidents lived for years in California. Other presidents have spent meaningful time living in "Pacific" areas outside the continental U.S. As John Pitney reminds us, William Howard Taft was governor-general of the Philippines; Dwight Eisenhower had military postings in the Philippines and the Panama Canal Zone; and Herbert Hoover worked as a mining engineer in Australia and China where he learned to speak Mandarin. In addition, Kennedy Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Bush 41 all served in the Pacific during the Second World War. These experiences seem more germane to understanding the "Pacific rim" than being a child in Indonesia for a few years and a teenager in Hawaii.

Perhaps Obama meant that he is America's first pacifist president.


JOHN adds: One seriously hesitates to draw the conclusion that Barack Obama is a fool, no matter how strongly the evidence may point in that direction. But what are we to make of a man who is ignorant of history; who is ignorant of economics; who despises his own country; and who appears to believe that awareness of his own wonderfulness is enough to guide him? To put it charitably, he has a great deal to learn, and not much time to learn it.