Click here to view this media I’m becoming more and more convinced that Newt Gingrich is the Glenn Beck of 2012 Presidential candidates. Knowing he cannot hope to be a viable candidate, Newt just spews the crazy to make the others look sane. From last night’s appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum, we get this gem. Keep in mind, this forum featured Herman Cain, Newtie, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer and Rick Santorum. With the exception of a few nods toward faux populism by Roemer, the others said the same thing in a sort of boring and predictable way. But Newt kicked it up and out a few notches. Transcript of the clip above: But for me, the real turning point was when the 9th Circuit court decided in 2002 to…that it was unconstitutional to say “one nation under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in a school. And I decided — in some ways it was very parallel to Lincoln responding to the Dred Scott decision about slavery. I decided that if we now have judges so fundamentally out of touch with America that they have no clue what this country was based on, we need a political change so deep and so profound that nothing we have seen in our lifetime is comparable to the level of depth we have to go to get this country back on the right track again. [applause] Let me be very clear about this. Since 1952, we have won 9 presidential elections for Republicans and Democrats won 6. But despite the fact that Republicans were in the White House for 50% more time than Democrats, we did not at a fundamental level change the power of the left. We didn’t change the bureaucracies, we didn’t change the biases of the judiciary. And over that period, they have all gotten worse, moved further to the left and become more alienated from the American system. There’s so many dogwhistles in that little clip it’s a veritable symphony. He sort of drops the thing about Dred Scott in there, which of course led to the Civil War just before saying we need political change so deep and profound it hasn’t been seen in our lifetime? And then for good measure, claims the judiciary and bureaucracies have moved farther left? In what world? Yes, of course a ‘secular socialist left’ judiciary gave us Citizens United. Of course it did. And it was that secular socialist left that dropped troops in Iraq, too. Sure it was. But wait, there’s more. Here’s Newt describing the first day of his fantasy Presidency. Click here to view this media I was accused of overreacting to this on Twitter last night when I said “These people really want a dictatorship.” Tell me if you think I was. Here’s the transcript: Now how fast could we in fact turn the country around if we had a President who shared our values instead of the values of the secular socialist left ? Start on the very first day. There’s a system called an executive order which allows the President to interpret the application of the law. Imagine just four examples. What if, on the very first day, we had a President who said, we are now abolishing as of this minute every single czar in the White House and their offices, including spending? [applause] What if we said, on the very first day, we are reinstating Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy and no American tax money will go to any abortion anywhere outside the United States, period? [louder applause] What if we said, on the very first day, that George W. Bush’s implementation of conscience protection will be reinstated so the government will actively protect those who as a matter of conscience refuse to do things that the left wants done? [applause] And finally, what if we said on the very first day that the State Department will be instructed as of this date to recognize the right of every sovereign nation to define its own capitol and the United States embassy will be in the capitol of the country that defines it, which would mean that for the first time we would put the capitol in Jerusalem. The only country — think about this — the only country in the world where the United States government refuses to allow the local government to define its capitol is Israel, which is a democracy, an ally of ours, and it is profoundly wrong to discriminate against Israel, the government of Israel, the people of Israel and we should stop it on the very first day. [wild applause] Now, I’m not yet a candidate, I’m in the process of exploring as you know, and you can go to newtexplore.com — I thought I’d put that plug in — but let me say that every person who’s going to speak tonight is a friend of mine. We’re all going to have to be on the same team after this is over. It’s going to take all of us to defeat the left because — and I agree with what Steve said — we can’t just defeat the left in Washington. We need 40 more house seats in Washington, we need a dozen more US Senators, we need to pick up the State Senate here, we need to strengthen the hand that the governor has, we need to across the board recognize there are 513,000 elected officials at the state and local level and only 537 at the federal level. We need, for the first time in 80 years to replace the governing structure of the left with a governing structure that is center right and then we need, from the very first day, to implement decisively the re-establishment of an American exceptionalism that recognizes that the power starts with you and eventually goes to Washington when necessary. Power does not start in Washington with a bunch of judges and bureaucrats dictating to you what you do. Thank you, good luck and God bless. Ignore the reference to center right. That’s just silly. There is no center right, only hard John Birch-style right now. The center is dead. If that’s not a call for a right wing revolution, I don’t know what would be. Newt Gingrich knows he won’t get elected. He has way too much baggage. But he managed, in this short little speech, to further de-legitimize President Obama ( “…if we had a President who shared our values… ) and to push all the buttons stoking far-right morals voters’ anger while making the Santorums, Pawlentys and Cains look like sane human beings. 2012 will be all about wedge issues if we “secular socialist leftists” can’t manage to put together a message and enough unity to push forward. Last night’s speakers made that abundantly clear.
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media I’m becoming more and more convinced that Newt Gingrich is the Glenn Beck of 2012 Presidential candidates. Knowing he cannot hope to be a viable candidate, Newt just spews the crazy to make the others look sane. From last night’s appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum, we get this gem. Keep in mind, this forum featured Herman Cain, Newtie, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer and Rick Santorum. With the exception of a few nods toward faux populism by Roemer, the others said the same thing in a sort of boring and predictable way. But Newt kicked it up and out a few notches. Transcript of the clip above: But for me, the real turning point was when the 9th Circuit court decided in 2002 to…that it was unconstitutional to say “one nation under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in a school. And I decided — in some ways it was very parallel to Lincoln responding to the Dred Scott decision about slavery. I decided that if we now have judges so fundamentally out of touch with America that they have no clue what this country was based on, we need a political change so deep and so profound that nothing we have seen in our lifetime is comparable to the level of depth we have to go to get this country back on the right track again. [applause] Let me be very clear about this. Since 1952, we have won 9 presidential elections for Republicans and Democrats won 6. But despite the fact that Republicans were in the White House for 50% more time than Democrats, we did not at a fundamental level change the power of the left. We didn’t change the bureaucracies, we didn’t change the biases of the judiciary. And over that period, they have all gotten worse, moved further to the left and become more alienated from the American system. There’s so many dogwhistles in that little clip it’s a veritable symphony. He sort of drops the thing about Dred Scott in there, which of course led to the Civil War just before saying we need political change so deep and profound it hasn’t been seen in our lifetime? And then for good measure, claims the judiciary and bureaucracies have moved farther left? In what world? Yes, of course a ‘secular socialist left’ judiciary gave us Citizens United. Of course it did. And it was that secular socialist left that dropped troops in Iraq, too. Sure it was. But wait, there’s more. Here’s Newt describing the first day of his fantasy Presidency. Click here to view this media I was accused of overreacting to this on Twitter last night when I said “These people really want a dictatorship.” Tell me if you think I was. Here’s the transcript: Now how fast could we in fact turn the country around if we had a President who shared our values instead of the values of the secular socialist left ? Start on the very first day. There’s a system called an executive order which allows the President to interpret the application of the law. Imagine just four examples. What if, on the very first day, we had a President who said, we are now abolishing as of this minute every single czar in the White House and their offices, including spending? [applause] What if we said, on the very first day, we are reinstating Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy and no American tax money will go to any abortion anywhere outside the United States, period? [louder applause] What if we said, on the very first day, that George W. Bush’s implementation of conscience protection will be reinstated so the government will actively protect those who as a matter of conscience refuse to do things that the left wants done? [applause] And finally, what if we said on the very first day that the State Department will be instructed as of this date to recognize the right of every sovereign nation to define its own capitol and the United States embassy will be in the capitol of the country that defines it, which would mean that for the first time we would put the capitol in Jerusalem. The only country — think about this — the only country in the world where the United States government refuses to allow the local government to define its capitol is Israel, which is a democracy, an ally of ours, and it is profoundly wrong to discriminate against Israel, the government of Israel, the people of Israel and we should stop it on the very first day. [wild applause] Now, I’m not yet a candidate, I’m in the process of exploring as you know, and you can go to newtexplore.com — I thought I’d put that plug in — but let me say that every person who’s going to speak tonight is a friend of mine. We’re all going to have to be on the same team after this is over. It’s going to take all of us to defeat the left because — and I agree with what Steve said — we can’t just defeat the left in Washington. We need 40 more house seats in Washington, we need a dozen more US Senators, we need to pick up the State Senate here, we need to strengthen the hand that the governor has, we need to across the board recognize there are 513,000 elected officials at the state and local level and only 537 at the federal level. We need, for the first time in 80 years to replace the governing structure of the left with a governing structure that is center right and then we need, from the very first day, to implement decisively the re-establishment of an American exceptionalism that recognizes that the power starts with you and eventually goes to Washington when necessary. Power does not start in Washington with a bunch of judges and bureaucrats dictating to you what you do. Thank you, good luck and God bless. Ignore the reference to center right. That’s just silly. There is no center right, only hard John Birch-style right now. The center is dead. If that’s not a call for a right wing revolution, I don’t know what would be. Newt Gingrich knows he won’t get elected. He has way too much baggage. But he managed, in this short little speech, to further de-legitimize President Obama ( “…if we had a President who shared our values… ) and to push all the buttons stoking far-right morals voters’ anger while making the Santorums, Pawlentys and Cains look like sane human beings. 2012 will be all about wedge issues if we “secular socialist leftists” can’t manage to put together a message and enough unity to push forward. Last night’s speakers made that abundantly clear.
Continue reading …
I agree with HotAir’s Ed Morrissey that the most-interesting takeaway from the latest vid from James O’Keefe (he of ACORN fame ) is that Ron Schiller of the NPR Foundation suggests that the media operation would be better off without taxpayer subsidies. I suspect many if not most Reason.com readers will disagree with much of what Schiller and his colleague say, but they don’t come off so bad. O’Keefe’s… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Reason Magazine – Hit & Run Discovery Date : 08/03/2011 14:44 Number of articles : 8
Continue reading …
Recently, the Los Angeles branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) released a video
Continue reading …Egyptians prise open secrets of Hosni Mubarak’s state security headquarters
March 7, 2011 No Comment
Citizens loot thousands of secret documents as luxury suite and tool of torture uncovered from HQ Egyptians are poring over the inner workings of the notorious state security apparatus and the regime it protected through thousands of secret documents looted from its headquarters. But the army has warned that the papers must be returned on pain of prosecution. In scenes reminiscent of East Germany after the collapse of communism, protestors rushed into the fortress-like offices of State Security Investigations (SSI), or Amn al-Dawla, in Cairo and elsewhere at the weekend to seize papers and files accumulated over decades of repression and surveillance. Documents published in the Egyptian media and posted on the internet record the monitoring of trade unions, civil society organisations and even a layout of the SSI itself. The Muslim Brotherhood is singled out for especially close attention. Facebook now has a page dedicated to the documents, some of which have been collated by the opposition Wafd party and sent to Egypt’s prosecutor general to investigate human rights abuses. Other papers record the movements of former president Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne in the final few days before he stepped down on 11 February. Another document describes a meeting between government officials and Egypt’s mobile phone operators. On 28 January, as protesters took to the streets at the start of the uprising that would bring down Mubarak, the operators turned off internet, mobile phone and text messages and put the country in a media blackout. The army has called on people to hand over documents taken from the SSI HQ and other premises and banned the media from publishing details about them under threat of legal action. “Some of the documents contain names and cases which could threaten the security of the country and people,” it warned. Another document details a plan to conceal secret files to prevent them from falling into the hands of demonstrators. The issue presents a dilemma for the ruling Egyptian military council, as the SSI and other security agencies are accused of some of the worst human rights abuses in suppressing dissent against Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule. It is not yet clear whether the council is considering restructuring the security agency, or redefining its mission as it charts Egypt’s path toward a freer political system and an eventual return to civilian rule. The documents reveal a body with a Stasi-like obsession of minutiae and a predilection for bureaucratic note-taking characteristic of all Egyptian public institutions. The result is a damning tale of torture, corruption and interference. In the SSI building in Nasr City, east of Cairo, protesters found a trail of shredded paper leading to piles of rubbish bags containing what protestors allege is incriminating evidence destroyed by officers. Shouts and loud bangs echoed round the building’s marbled walls as protesters rifled through files and searched for detainees they allege are being held in underground cells. When they were eventually discovered, the cells were empty, and the fate of the detainees they held remains unknown. The building is a mixture of corporate dull and lavish splendour, far removed from the grim disrepair of most underfunded government buildings. In one room a cartoon character tells its visitors not to smoke. Next to it is a picture of an unidentified policeman in uniform. In another there is a picture of Mecca and a prayer mat underneath a keyboard. One storeroom contains car number plates, another the business cards of SSI head Hassan Abdel-Rahman. The James Bond-like “crisis management room” contains a round table next to a bank of computers. A door leading off opens unexpectedly on to a room full of Louis XV gilded rococo furniture. On an upper floor, protesters discovered the suite of former interior minister Habib el-Adly, now in prison facing charges of corruption and ordering police to open fire on protesters. A YouTube video gives a tour of the suite . An unmade bed is flanked by a wardrobe contains two his and hers towelling bathrobes, one white, one pink. Next to it is a chest of drawers with two plates and cutlery inside. A treadmill and exercise bike are next to that, while in an annexe off the bedroom is a huge meeting room featuring a statue of a bucking golden stallion. In the SSI HQ’s courtyard, a man demonstrated to the crowd how he had been tortured on a device found inside the building, by being suspended in stress positions for hours on end and given electric shocks. Elsewhere, protesters found belly-dancing outfits. On the building’s upper floor they produced a suited man who they accused of being a SSI officer.He was quickly surrounded by a crowd and had to be rescued by soldiers. Egypt Protest Hosni Mubarak Muslim Brotherhood Middle East Facebook YouTube Internet Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
enlarge Operation Desert Storm – all over except the shouting. Click here to view this media On this day in 1991 the first combat troops were returning from Operation Desert Storm with more on the way. Meanwhile, uprisings around Iraq were being quickly extinguished by the Saddam Hussein regime. President Bush delivers an address the previous night to declare the war was over with reactions from Capitol Hill. In Los Angeles, viral video tape of a beating by police of motorist Rodney King in the Lakeview Terrace section of Los Angeles sparked controversy and a clumsy attempt at explanation on the parts of the LAPD. An investigation was promised. And that’s what it looked today if you were in 1991.
Continue reading …
In The Money with Angela Miles: 03/07/11 Jogano GTA IV no Max. Pre-Market Movers: March 7th, 2011 Western Digital drops $4.3 billion to acquire Hitachi GST, enter … Yow. Western Digital — the company responsible for shipping the planet’s first 1TB 2.5-inch hard drive way back in 2009 — just announced a monstrou. Western Digital buys Hitachi GST for $4.3 billion In an attempt to boost its position in the digital storage market, hard drive maker Western Digital has acquired the… Acquisition: Western Digital buys Hitachi Global Storage – $3.5 … Storage firm Western Digital is certain to buy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies – wholly owned Hitachi subsidiary – for $4.3 billion.The deal will see a cash and stock transaction. Western Digital to acquire Hitachi GST for $4.3 billion – VR-Zone.com Western Digital and Hitachi, Ltd. announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby WD will acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., … Western Digital buys Hitachi's storage business for $4.3B … Western Digital is taking a swing at its chief rival Seagate with a $4.3 billion acquisition today of the storage division of Hitachi. The acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies signals a new phase of consolidation in the … command_tab says: ” Western Digital To Acquire Hitachi GST For $4.3 Billion” http://t.co/x1cWpg4 Good for them, I depend on both brands' drives daily.
Continue reading …Christiane Amanpour Gets Cozy With Tina Brown, Touts Newsweek Editor’s List of Important Women, Including Amanpour
March 7, 2011 No Comment
Newsweek and Daily Beast editor Tina Brown flattered This Week host Christiane Amanpour by placing her on a list of 150 women who “shake the world.” The ABC anchor responded to this praise by featuring Brown on her Sunday show, touting the females on the list (which describes the host as “one of the world's most renowned journalists”). She enthused, “Who could fail to be optimistic?” On the show, Amanpour never mentioned her inclusion in this profile. Those not featured? Amanpour's ABC News colleagues, World News anchor Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts, despite the fact that their shows are on five days a week and have higher ratings. In addition to ignoring her place amongst these women, Amanpour also neglected to note that she will be participating in a panel on the same topic. ” And we'll be watching the women's summit, the Daily Beast/Newsweek that's coming up this week ,” she vaguely explained at the close of the segment. The ABC anchor hyped Brown …”You are also going to show us the new cover of 'Newsweek,' which we're going to put up. And it is about 150 women who shake the world with Hillary Clinton as the cover.” Amanpour's entry in the list asserts: One of the world's most renowned journalists, Christiane Amanpour is anchor of ABC's Sunday-morning political-affairs program and also hosts prime-time documentaries on international subjects. She has reported on and from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, and Israel, among other regions. She has received every major broadcast award and was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her “highly distinguished, innovative contribution” to journalism. Unsurprisingly, the list is full of liberal women. Democratic Senator Kristen Gillibrand, Democratic Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords and Nancy Pelosi were included. A few token Republicans, such as Laura Bush and Fran Townsend were allowed. A partial transcript of the segment, which aired at 10:45am EST on March 6, follows:
Continue reading …Mitch McConnell Complains That White House is Not ‘Serious’ About Budget Cuts
March 7, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Any time I hear the word “serious” out of one of these politicians, the words “stick it to the working class” come to mind because that’s usually what they’re talking about. Of course asking the rich to pay more in taxes or ending these military occupations would be considered very “unserious” because we can’t have that, now can we? That might dry up their campaign contributions. And as Dave Dayen noted, Biden — who is supposed to be heading negotiations — is leaving town for the week: Biden, Supposed to Be Lead Negotiator on Continuing Resolution, Headed to Europe for a Week : Good thing the White House is taking the imminent government shutdown so seriously. President Obama designated Joe Biden as his lead negotiator with Congress on a long-term plan to set spending for the rest of the year. They had a meeting Thursday, and I’m not certain they followed up on Friday. And now, Biden’s headed to Russia, Finland and Moldova for a week. All that this week will accomplish, then, is a bunch of back-and-forth shouting in the media. And that started on the Sunday shows today. The likely scenario is another two- to three-week stopgap that includes the $6 billion in cuts proposed by the White House, while negotiations continue. You’re starting to see a pattern emerge. Democrats offer small cuts. Republicans take them and ask for more. Democrats offer more small cuts. Lather, rinse, repeat. And pretty soon, the small cuts add up to everything the Republicans wanted in the first place. I hope he’s wrong but given the administration’s track record “negotiating” with Republicans, it sure looks like where we’re headed. Here’s more from CBS News. — McConnell: Obama not serious about budget : The leading Republican Senator said the White House is not intent upon addressing government spending and debt, and disputed a Democratic Senator’s accusation that the GOP budget plan was “reckless.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Republican control of the House and Democratic control of the Senate means it is the “perfect time” to tackle budget matters, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, if both sides embrace a solution before the 2012 elections. “I haven’t given up hope, but frankly I’m not optimistic,” he said. When asked if he thought Mr. Obama was serious about getting something done with regards to the budget battles between Republicans and Democrats, McConnell said, “No, I don’t. I have now had a number of private conversations with the president and the vice president. I was hopeful that we would step up to the plate here, if you will, and use this divided government opportunity to do something big about our long- term problem. When asked why he thought the administration was not serious, McConnell said, “I’ve a number of conversations with people who count at the White House, and I think that so far I don’t see the level of seriousness that we need. For example, they’re in denial about Social Security. They are saying Social Security is not a problem. The Congressional Budget Office said it’s running a $50 billion deficit this very year. Medicare, Social Security are unsustainable. Medicare, Medicaid is unsustainable.” [,,,] McConnell disputed Kerry’s assertion that the Republican plan was “reckless.” “What’s reckless, Bob, is the $1.6 trillion deficit we’re running this year,” McConnell said. “What’s reckless is the $3 trillion we’ve added to our national debt. Our national debt is now the size of our economy. We begin to look a lot like Greece. And this doesn’t even deal with our long-term unfunded liabilities in Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, [adding] up to over $50 trillion of promises we’ve made to future generations that we cannot meet. McConnell said the negotiations have only come “about one-sixth of the way to where House Republicans are, and where I am the majority and hopefully all Senate Republicans are.” McConnell also compared unemployment rates between government workers and the private sector, and said that while “the American people have shed millions of jobs,” the government has added 100,000 jobs during the Obama administration. “Our priorities are out of whack. When my friend John Kerry says cutting government spending is reckless, I’m wondering, what planet is he living on?”
Continue reading …
The Media Research Center is out with another edition of our bi-weekly Notable Quotables newsletter, a compilation of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media. Highlights from this issue include: Network reporters contrasting left-wing union protests in Wisconsin with recent uprisings against brutal Middle Eastern dictators, and journalists suggesting a “coordinated” Republican “assault on unions,” with MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski badgering Governor Scott Walker: “How this is not an attempt to crush the unions.” In other NQ news, we think we’ve finally fixed the problems that have plagued MRC’s e-mail newsletters over the past few weeks, so if you’d like to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to Notable Quotables or any of the MRC’s other fine newsletters, click here . Now, here’s a sample of our best quotes from the past two weeks, including six video clips — for the full edition ( Web page or full-color, printer-friendly PDF ), visit www.MRC.org . A “Coordinated” “Assault” on Unions — “Have Governors Gone Too Far? ” “What began as a battle over one state budget is now being billed as a national assault on unions.” — CBS’s Cynthia Bowers on the February 18 Evening News . “Is there a coordinated Republican political agenda to this attack or this effort, this pointed effort at unions?…There are many states that have denied collective bargaining rights that also have very large budget deficits. So in some ways, it doesn’t sort of make sense, this idea that the unions really are to blame.” — Fill-in co-host Ann Curry to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on NBC’s Today , February 23. “We’ve seen the public employees say, ‘We’ll pay more for our health care and pensions, but you can’t take away our rights.’ Have the governors here gone too far?” — ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Good Morning America , February 23. Fighting Dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya — and Wisconsin “Today, we saw America’s money trouble meet a reality, a human reality, as teachers, nurses, tens of thousands of state workers took to the streets in this country protesting cuts by the governors, saying to these governors, a promise is a promise. One lawmaker looked out at the crowds gathered in the Wisconsin capital today and said it’s like Cairo moved to Madison.” — Diane Sawyer opening ABC’s World News , February 17. “This week: people power making history. A revolt in the Midwest and a revolution sweeping across the Middle East….Populist frustration is boiling over this week — as we’ve said, not just in the Middle East, but in the middle of this country as well.” — ABC’s Christiane Amanpour opening This Week , February 20. “The images from Wisconsin — with its protests, shutdown of some public services and missing Democratic senators, who fled the state to block a vote — evoked the Middle East more than the Midwest. The parallels raise the inevitable question: Is Wisconsin the Tunisia of collective bargaining rights?” — New York Times reporters Michael Cooper and Katharine Seelye, February 19.
Continue reading …