My Top 5 Must Reads of the Day 6/30/10

1. Why Obamanomics Has Failed WSJ




The president, his friends and advisers talk endlessly about the circumstances they inherited as a way of avoiding responsibility for the 18 months for which they are responsible. But they want new stimulus measures—which is convincing evidence that they too recognize that the earlier measures failed.

EXACTLY! Instead of blaming Bush, get up and do something about it! Kind of like Gov. McDonnell did!



2. In her own hand: Kagan’s manipulation on partial-birth abortion Hot Air
By Ed Morrissey



Note the deletion of the word “not” in the original statement, which originally read (emphasis mine), “This procedure, however, may not be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman, and the doctor should be allowed to make this determination.”

This has to be seen to be believed - Kagan's handwritten notes cross out the word "not" so as to completely change the sentence!



3. Obama Mocked Commissions, Then Established Four CBS




Here's Mr. Obama on September 18, 2008, not long after the economic collapse: "Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was - get ready for it - a commission. That's Washington-speak for 'we'll get back to you later.'"


"Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy," he continued. "We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it - and that's the kind of President I intend to be."

And...today there was a meeting of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - they'll get back to us later.



4. Blagojevich Should Have Told Obama to Stuff It. Publicly. NBC Chicago




Under the Constitution, the president doesn’t have a right to stack the Senate with his own picks. Filling vacancies is up to the states. This ensures that Congress will be an independent body, unlike the Chicago City Council, where Mayor Daley gets to appoint replacements for jailed aldermen.

Isn't this the third time Obama has gotten involved in attempting to determine who gets a Senate seat? Sestak? Romannoff? Anyone?



5. W.H. quiet on Obama-Blago link Politico




Reconciling the accounts of Balanoff and Craig could come down to the question of what the White House’s definition of “communication” is.

Is that kind of like defining what the meaning of the word "is" is?

My Top 5 Must Reads of the Day 6/29/10

1. 
   

   Five Gun Salute

   WSJ Editorial
   
   
   

   Judicial liberals have been discovering the virtues of legal precedent now that conservatives are finally winning a few cases at the Supreme Court, but in yesterday's major gun rights case that all went out the window. The four liberal Justices rejected a 2008 landmark precedent as well as one of their own bedrock Constitutional principles. 

   Liberals changing their tune for political expediency?!  NO WAY!
   
   
2. 
   

   Federal gov’t should follow Virginia’s lead and establish consensus to reduce deficit

   By Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.) (The Hill)
   
   

   Waiting for our administration was a Virginia budget with an unprecedented $4.2 billion deficit, a politically divided General Assembly and the toughest economy in modern Virginia history. ... Remarkably, even in these tough times, we will likely realize a small budget surplus at the end of this fiscal year.

   Funny, Gov. McDonnell doesn't point fingers and complain about the $4.2B budget deficit HE inherited. Instead, he fixed it!
    
3. 
   

   Obama’s big oil spill bungle

   By Dick Morris (The Hill)
   
   
   

   ...The short answer is that every agency — each with its own particular bureaucratic agenda — was able to veto each aspect of any plan to fight the spill, with the unintended consequence that nothing stopped the oil from destroying hundreds of miles of wetlands, habitats, beaches, fisheries and recreational facilities.

   Don't read this if you don't want to make your blood boil.
   
   
4. 
   

   School Officials in Mass. Town Won't Let Students Recite Pledge of Allegiance
   
   FoxNews.com

   The Arlington, Mass., school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it, according to a report in the Arlington Patch. 

   This makes me sick.  Good for those students for being more mature and respectful than the supposed adults "teaching" them. 
   UPDATE: Velvet Hammer blogs on this as well.

5. 
   

   G8: Obama interested in Huntsville’s golf courses: Clement

   National Post (Canada)
   

   When U.S. President Barack Obama stepped off his helicopter in Huntsville on Friday, the first thing he said was, “You’ve got a lot of golf courses here, don’t you?” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the National Post in an exclusive interview.

   How many more times is this man going to golf while oil is spilling, jobs are being lost, and a war is going on?!?!

Census Workers Sensing Danger?

I in no way condone acts of violence or threats of violence toward Census workers, or anyone else, but this article over the weekend really got to me.

An unexpected result for some census takers: the wrath of irate Americans

Since they began making follow-up house calls in early May, census takers have encountered vitriol, menace and flashes of violence. They have been shot at with pellet guns and hit by baseball bats. They have been confronted with pickaxes, crossbows and hammers. They've had lawn mowers pushed menacingly toward them and patio tables thrown their way. They have been nibbled by ducks, bitten by pit bulls and chased by packs of snarling dogs.

"Nibbled by ducks?" Seriously? Menacing lawn mowers? Really? Chased by dogs?  Isn't that a typical day for a postal worker?  How can these be put in the same paragraph as "hit by baseball bats" and "confronted by pickaxes?"  Sorry, you lose all credibility when you try to stretch the list with ridiculous items.

So far, the Census Bureau has tallied 379 incidents involving assaults or threats on the nation's 635,000 census workers, more than double the 181 recorded during the 2000 census. Weapons were used or threatened in a third of the cases.

Do you have any idea how few incidents that turns out to be considering how many workers there are?  It amounts to an incident rate of .0006%.  Did they also consider that perhaps there are more Census workers this year because of the increase in population?  Never mind that 379 incidents is far less than the number of workers hired with criminal records (at least 1,800 with 750 fired).  And lets take a look at recent headlines of the violence committed by census workers, the sword cuts both ways:

NJ Mom Recognizes Census Worker as Sex Offender

Volunteer Census worker charged with burglary and rape in Indiana

Census Worker's Dog Bites A South St. Louis Man

Census Bureau makes changes after sex offender hired

Trooper kills armed Fairbanks man; mother found dead
(Thom Gruenig was currently working as a field operations supervisor for the 2010 Census)

While the article clearly tries to make it look as though there's an epidemic of crazy anti-government American violence against Census workers, it's simply not true.  I'm sure a lot of the incidents were cases of people not understanding that the strangers on their property were Census workers and not thieves.  This is just another way to try to equate conservatives and libertarians who are skeptical of government with the very few people who threaten violence against the workers.

A Tale of Two Gulf Disaster Responses

Look what I found buried at the end of this ABC article entitled BP Oil Spill: As Pay Czar Promises Money, Workers Turned Away From BP Claims Center

Regulations Hold Up Needed Supplies

But why aren't those larger skimmers already here, eight weeks into the disaster?

"One of the challenges we have is the regulatory scheme," said Laferriere.

A law from the 1920s called the Jones Act stands in the way, declaring that the Coast Guard has to use only American vessels.
The Coast Guard ran into the same problem after Hurricane Katrina, but it took just a week to get around it.

"We had to work with the president and Adm. Allen to get the Jones Act waived," said Laferriere.

The international skimmers are now expected to arrive on the Gulf Coast in July.

Hmm, so it took President Bush a week to wave the law to help Katrina victims; the BP spill happened April 20, and the needed supplies won't arrive until July.  Bush - 1 week; Obama - 2+ months.  'Nuf said.

Vuvuzela Victims

Not only is the sound annoying, it's dangerous!

The dreaded vuvuzela claims its first victim: Woman bursts her windpipe 'by blowing too hard'

Insurance saleswoman Yvonne Mayer, 29, was unable to speak or eat for two days after ripping her windpipe when she blew the three foot horn during a street party in Cape Town.
...
Her injury came as it was revealed a German fan had been diagnosed with severe tinnitus after watching his team's 4-0 over Australia.

...

'It was so loud that I passed out. When I came round I couldn't hear properly in one ear - it was just a permanent ringing.'

Finally - a good use for the vuvuzela! Drown out Obama speeches

Dreams From My President

Drudge tweet: "Obama inspires student dreams at commencement"



Ok, this is pretty freaking hilarious!  I'm glad I'm not the only one put to sleep by him talking.

ht Chuck Dizzle who's Twitter feed I first saw this in.

Top 20 HOTTEST Men in Conservative New Media!!!

I was sooooooooo excited when Melissa Tweets let me be a judge for Hot Men 2010: The Hottest Conservative Men!  It was a TON of fun going through all the pictures of HOT conservative guys in New Media.  We really had a great field of candidates and I was honored to be able to have a vote for my favorites.  It was also great chatting with the other ladies who judged: Erika (PstErikka), Elizabeth Blackney, Jackie Seal, Lisa De Pasquale, Lori Ziganto aka SnarkandBoobs, Sister Toldjah and Tabitha Hale.

Please check out the full listing on Melissa Clouthier's blog on LibertyPundits.net.

Here are some of my personal favorites, although the entire group is pretty awesome:

2. Joe Logue, American Conservative Union

Looks like he fits tall, dark, and handsome to a T!

3. Jeff Emanuel, Blogger Redstate, Writer, Archaeologist, Veteran, Combat Journalist

Conservative beefcake AND veteran - YUM!

4. Scott Taylor, Candidate, Navy Seal, Business Man

Another hot military man and he's running for office for Republicans!

7. Doug Giles: Clash Radio, Pastor, Townhall.com

Because a man with a gun is SEXY!!!

Of course, none of these guys can hold a candle to Mr. Shrugged - love you, sweetie!  ; )

Luvya Dubya!

'I'd do it again' former President Bush tells Grand Rapids crowd about waterboarding terrorists

BAD. ASS.

Love-love-LOVED this article about Dubya's appearance in Michigan.  Some excellent quotes that really make me miss him:

"Yeah, we water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed...I'd do it again to save lives."

"Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and the world is a better place without him"

"You are not going to see me in the public square criticizing the president."

"I prayed a lot. I really did. I prayed before every major speech. I prayed before debates. It was a very important experience."

Can't wait to read his book!

You Have the Right to Remain Stupid

We're heading into summer and that means Supreme Court decisions - YAY!  I love Con Law.  Of course there are the obligatory stupid or almost-stupid rulings every year.  Here's an almost-stupid one - only one judge away from a stupid decision, via WaPo: 

In the case about Miranda rights, suspect Van Chester Thompkins remained mostly silent for three hours of interrogation after reading and being told of his rights to remain silent and have an attorney. ... When asked, “Do you pray to God to forgive you for shooting that boy down?” Thompkins looked away and answered, “Yes.”

The statement was used against him, and Thompkins was convicted of killing Samuel Morris outside a strip mall in Southfield, Mich.

Um...which part of "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" is unclear to FOUR of our Supreme Court Justices?!  Justice Kennedy gives the obvious response:

“If Thompkins wanted to remain silent, he could have said nothing in response to (the detective’s) questions, or he could have unambiguously involved his Miranda rights and ended the interrogation,” wrote Kennedy ...

Well, DUH! Somehow Justice Sotomayor fails to grasp this simple concept:

“Today’s decision turns Miranda upside down,” wrote Sotomayor. “Criminal suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent, which, counterintuitively, requires them to speak.”

No, actually, all they have to do is NOT SPEAK.  And by the way, the 5th Amendment has to be unambiguously invoked and spoken, does Sotomayor have a problem with that, too? 

Counterintuitively, Sotomayor wants the reading of Miranda rights to mean that anything said following the reading of the rights is inadmissible in a court of law. 

I don't know why criminals still have trouble with Miranda anyway, haven't they ever seen an episode of Law & Order? Geez, shut up, get a good lawyer, and hope to go before judges like Sotomayor.

Related posts that eviscerate liberals on the Supreme Court:

5-4?!

Supreme Idiot

What does empathy have to do with the Supreme Court?

Liberal Change the NYT Can Believe In