Obama Resigns from Trinity Church

Obama apparently decided that his 20-year relationship with his radical church was hurting him too much, so he resigned his membership this week.

Bob Dole Slams Scott McLellan

I have a new respect for Sen. Bob Dole. In a letter to Scott McLellan, Dole writes:

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits and, spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book — "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high-profile job."

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now, but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

I have nothing to add to that.

A New Reason to Vote for McCain

I'm not a McCain fan, but I've found a couple of reasons to vote for him (mainly because he's not a radical Marxist). But the new reason is almost as compelling.

Hollywood star Susan Sarandon is promising to move out of the country if McCain wins in November. Now if she can get her movie star friends to do the same, McCain might win in a landslide.

Iraq Coverage Down 92%

Gateway Pundit has an interesting analysis about journalists' news coverage of Iraq stories. They are down 92% from last year...I wonder why.

Pelosi Credits Iran With Surge Success in Iraq

Nancy Pelosi recently said that the surge in Iraq, which all the U.S. generals credit for the reduction in violence in Iraq, has failed.

Then almost in the same sentence, Pelosi claims that the success in Iraq is due to the "goodwill" of the Iranians. Take that, military - you suck but Iran is helping to do what you cannot.

And that is the leader of the Democrat Congress. What a woman.

UK's Carbon Card Scheme

Many members of the UK Parliament is still kicking around the idea of a "carbon card" to oversee its citizens. The idea is to ration energy usage (flights, driving, energy usage at home) each person can use. If the citizen goes above this amount, he would be required to pay fines to do so. (Think: McCain's cap and trade system for individuals.)

I can think of no quicker way to quickly eliminate individual liberties.

About McClellan's Book Publisher

A couple of final thoughts on Scott McLellan's book. I just learned that the publisher is PublicAffairs, a division of Perseus Books Group. Perseus Books is owned by a fund whose chairman, Frank Pearl, has close ties to far left liberals such as George Soros (they published at least two of Soros' books and managed a biotech fund together) and Al Gore (whose son-in-law, Drew Schiff, used to work for Pearl), among other well-known left wingers Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson (Obama's VP search head). [See Perseus' website for key personnel.] Also, PublicAffairs is run by far left editor Peter Osnos.

The books published by Perseus are certainly to the left more often than not. The bigger question, however, is how much say the book's editor had over the final product. I believe that the editor had significant authority to make final changes, making McClellan essentially a useful idiot. One other interesting tidbit is that Perseus' last Pulitzer Prize winner came from author Samantha Power, who recently resigned from the Obama campaign for comments she made about Hillary (and other anti-Semitic comments).

Flashback: McClellan's Take on Richard Clarke Book

While press secretary, Scott McClellan was asked by a reporter why the public shouldn't believe the conclusions Richard Clarke made in his book about the Bush Administration. This was McClellan's response:

Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he's raising these grave concerns that he claims he had. And I think you have to look at some of the facts. One, he is bringing this up in the heat of a presidential campaign. He has written a book and he certainly wants to go out there and promote that book.

Very interesting indeed.

Blue Dog Dems Hard to Tell from Liberals

Bob Novak has an interesting article this morning about the "Blue Dog Democrats," who traditionally voted with conservatives on many issues. But today's Blue Dogs, which include many who ran as conservatives in the 2006 elections that gave the Dems power, have voted overwhelmingly with Pelosi on issue after issue.

Maybe the Republicans will point out their voting records in these competitive races this November.

About Those Homeowner Victims

Michelle Malkin has a must-read story on Democrat Congressman Laura Richardson (CA), who recently stopped making mortgage payments on her Sacramento home. Richardson apparently drained cash equity from her home to fund her campaign. Richardson now compares herself to the average American caught up in the mortgage problems, but she is about as far from a victim as one gets.

Obama Supporters: No More Debate

John McCain's speech yesterday in Denver was interrupted several times by Obama supporters, who no longer want a debate on issues. They believe the debate is over, anyone who disagrees with Obama should be silenced and he should be crowned President already. Nothing new here - once again, it's not the conservatives who pull this crap.

Rove Responds to McClellan's Allegations

Karl Rove appeared on Hannity & Colmes tonight and was asked about Scott McClellan's allegations in his upcoming new book regarding the Bush Administration and Karl Rove on a number of issues.

Rove was asked about the allegation that he and Scooter Libby had a private meeting after meeting with Bush and McClellan's suggestion that it seemed "suspicious" (related to the Plame affair) because they never met privately. Rove said that it was totally false, as he met with Libby "all the time." Rove said it was "definitely not" about the Plame affair because his lawyer specifically told him never to discuss any information with anyone else in the White House. (And reminded us that it has long since been revealed that it was Dick Armitage who accidentally "leaked" the information to Bob Novak.)

On McClellan's suggestion that the Bush Administration was "in denial" for a week following Hurricane Katrina, Karl Rove said that he doesn't think McClellan was in any of the meetings, which took huge amounts of time in the immediate aftermath. Further, Rove pointed to these examples of how "out of the loop" McClellan was on certain issues.

I am not sure what to make of McClellan's accusations except that he's trying to sell his book and probably needed at least some red meat to sell it. I was always wholly unimpressed with McClellan's performance and thought that he did President Bush a terrible injustice with his inarticulate ways of talking to the press. (I often wondered how someone so seemingly inept at speaking could ever become press secretary, but that's another story.) Tony Snow was a huge asset to President Bush to which McClellan simply couldn't compare.

Perhaps McClellan was annoyed that he was removed from his post to be replaced by Tony Snow, perhaps he's trying to make some money, or perhaps he simply wants to be well-liked by the liberal media crowd in Washington, DC, where he lives. Of course, the media will seize on these comments and discuss them ad nauseum, while completely ignoring Douglas Feith's War and Decision that had a very different point about the Iraq War and the facts surrounding the lead-up to it (not to mention that it was well-sourced rather than primarily hearsay and speculation).

HotAir has the video here.

Vaclav Klaus Wants Debate with Gore on Climate

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has a big issue with Al Gore's alarmist version of climate change and wants to debate him. Of course, Gore has already stated his position, typical of someone who has a weak argument: the debate is over and further discussion is no longer warranted.

Obama and the Meaning of Memorial Day

Powerline reviews Obama's Memorial Day speech and concludes that Obama must not realize what the meaning of Memorial Day is all about. (Hint: it's about our fallen military heroes.)

You would think that a would-be President should know the difference between Veterans' Day and Memorial Day, at a bare minimum.

*Update*
Obama's other big gaffe yesterday was his lie that his uncle helped liberate Auschwitz. Except for the minor fact that Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians...

Carter Outs Israeli Nuclear Weapons

Jimmy Carter's irresponsibility continues to grow. He recently made public the fact that Israel has approximately 150 nuclear weapons - the first time a U.S. president has ever said so. He also disclosed how many nukes the U.S., Russia, Great Britain and France has.

As a former president with access to highly classified information, Carter again demonstrated how dangerous a rogue U.S. president can be.

Kanjorski: Dems "Stetched the Facts" in '06 Elections

Democrat Congressman Kanjorski (PA) admitted that the Dems lied to the country in 2006 about being able or willing to end the Iraq War.

The truth is that Democrats are happy to saddle George Bush with a defeat but they do not want to be known (again) as the party of defeat and surrender. Even if they win the Presidency and Congress this fall, I still doubt that they would be willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by pulling the troops out of Iraq immediately.

Iran Still Enriching Uranium

The IAEA says that Iran is still enriching uranium and developing its nuclear arms programs.

How can this be? I thought that the anti-Bush forces who wrote the NIE summary said that Iran stopped its programs in 2003. Shocking.

Stephen Hayes On Condi Rice's Ineffectiveness

Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard writes about Condi Rice's legacy at the State Department and it's not complimentary. Of the few foreign policy successes of Bush's second term, Rice was opposed to the most important one: the surge in Iraq. On the other items (North Korea, Syria, Iran), Rice seems content to allow the Bush Administration to be blackmailed into a "diplomacy only" type of stance.

Dem Congresswoman: Socialize Oil Industry

At least she's being honest about her utopia. Maxine Waters said that she would much prefer to have the government socialize, er....take over, the entire oil industry.

I applaud her honest and I'm sure she's not the only Democrat who feels that way.

Democrat Congresswoman Walks Away From Home

Democrat Rep. Laura Richardson (CA) stopped making mortgage payments and walked away from her Sacramento home less than two years after she bought the home with no money down.

I'm surprised she's not waiting for the government to bail her out.

Pelosi Concedes the Surge is Working

Nancy Pelosi has conceded that the surge in Iraq really is working. From Powerline. What now - that the Democrats were the ones who should be congratulated for promoting it?

Does McCain Have Too Much Military Experience?

Former Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin now seems to think that it is not good for a U.S. president to have too much military experience, since civilians are supposed to run the Defense Department. From Red State.

Hmm...I don't remember this argument being used when George Bush was running against Kerry in 2004.

Bush's "Unprecedented Attack on Foreign Soil"

The outrage from Democrats over Bush's non-attack on Obama in Israel is simply hilarious.
The MSM had talking heads everywhere yesterday about Bush's "unprecedented attack on foreign soil" on a presidential candidate.

Except of course, that Bush never mentioned Obama by name or even reference. And except of course, that this is what Democrats have been doing to Bush for the past 7 years (think Gore, Clinton, Carter, Pelosi, Reid, etc.)

Add foreign policy to the growing list of topics that Republicans are not allowed to talk about re: Obama (race, pastor, Rezko, wife, Ayers, ears, religion, mother, voting record,...).

*Update*
Apparently Bush's statement was intended to be aimed at Jimmy Carter who met with Hamas. But I guess Obama knows that his view is the same as Carter's.

Saudi Arabia: Screw You

President Bush's request for Saudi Arabia to increase oil production met an expected response: no thanks.

Maybe the U.S. will decide to produce its own oil someday rather than being handcuffed by all the environmentalists.

Conservatives Didn't Show up in MS

John Hawkins has a good analysis of the MS congressional race that the GOP lost earlier this week to a Democrat. It never helps when only 25% of the GOP who voted in 2004 participate. The question is whether John McCain will give anybody a reason to show up at the polls this November - so far the answer is a resounding no.

Bush's Truth Stings Obama, Dems

President Bush spoke about the failure of appeasement to the Knesset in Israel. Barack Obama immediately assumed Bush was talking about him.

Now Pelosi, Biden and other Dems are piling on. I assume the truth hit a nerve with them - theirs is a new, transcendent appeasement policy.

*Update*
This is getting funny. All Dems (Levin, Daschle, and anyone else the MSM can get on) are coming out saying that President Bush was referring to Obama despite the fact that Bush said that he was not referring to Obama or anyone else in particular, but the overall policy of appeasement. Clearly they wouldn't be so defensive if there weren't a grain (or handful) of truth to it.

Conyers on Rove: Someone Has to "Kick His A$$"

While John McCain is out giving speeches about how the GOP needs to end its partisanship and work with Democrats, Democrat John Conyers is out there saying that someone needs to kick Karl Rove's ass. What bipartisans they are - as long as Republicans give up all their rights, beliefs and values and do exactly they Democrats ask of them, we can all get along.

Senate Keeps Spending: Pass Massive Farm Bill

The Democrat-led Senate, along with many willing Republicans, passed the pork-laden farm bill 81-15 today, thus neutering a Bush veto attempt.

Those poor farmers simply aren't making enough money with record crop prices.

Congress Approval Ratings Lowest Ever

The Democrat-led Congress received its lowest approval ratings ever yesterday, with only 18% approving, according to Gallup.

Just another reminder that, contrary to the MSM, people aren't happy with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid either. Where have you gone, Newt Gingrich?

Levin: Cut Ties with McCain, GOP

Mark Levin has a suggestion to all conservative candidates this fall: cut all ties with McCain and the RNC and run as real conservatives. After all, McCain will have no coattails this fall since he is running away from conservatives.

After Childers, a Democrat, won the MS seat running away from Barack Obama and the Democrats this week, conservatives should do the same thing with McCain. McCain certainly has no qualms about abandoning conservatives, so all candidates should become mavericks this fall. If I were a conservative candidate, I would even take out television ads that make it clear to voters that I am no McCain.

*Update*
The AP still likes to believe that McCain is the GOP's savior. What a joke.

Another Economy Setback: Polar Bears Threatened

The Interior Department declared the polar bear "threatened." As a result, you shouldn't expect the U.S. to become energy independent anytime soon. As Andrew Wetzler of the National Resources Defense Council says,

No governmental permits may be issued affecting the polar bear without all concerned government agencies having a say. He indicated the current US government believes it can still go ahead with pet projects in Alaska for oil and gas exploration and exploitation. However, Wetzler says it is not likely any of those projects wouldbe found legal by the courts as NRDC believes they violate the Endangered Species Act.

Not only that, but any new refinery, plant or other business that is deemed to contribute to global warming can now be challenged in court. Once again, if oil prices rise from here, we know who to blame.

Obama's Foreign Policy "Facts" Awry

Obama sometimes likes to make up facts to get his point across. Yesterday was a brilliant one:

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.

Obviously, Arabic is not spoken in Afghanistan. I wonder if the MSM would ignore his gaffes if his last name were Bush.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

A WSJ editorial this morning describes the farm bill facing a vote this week in Congress:

This year farm income is expected to reach an all-time high of $92.3 billion, an increase of 56% in two years, making growers perhaps the most undeserving welfare recipients in American history. But that won't stop this bill from passing the House and Senate by wide margins. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was once a farm subsidy skeptic, but she now has some 30 freshman Democrats from battleground rural districts to protect. So more than $10 billion a year in giveaways to agribusiness is a necessary taxpayer sacrifice to keep her majority.

Mr. Bush is promising a veto, to his credit, but the White House expects even many Republicans to vote to override. The House GOP swears it has learned its spending lesson after 2006. Yet House Minority Leader John Boehner, who opposes the bill himself, isn't rallying GOP opposition. Perhaps there are too many Republicans who crave the handouts too.

Meanwhile, John McCain says "I would veto that bill" and will vote against it in the Senate. Strangely silent is Barack Obama. A major theme of his campaign is to battle corporate special interests in Washington on behalf of the "middle class." Here is one of his first tests, and it'll be fascinating to see if he sides with the well-funded commodity lobby over consumers and taxpayers.

In this election year, both parties are fighting to win the farm vote. But even in Chicago and New Jersey, it doesn't cost $300 billion to buy an election.

GOP Loses MS Seat

The GOP lost a reliably Republican seat in Mississippi. It doesn't matter that the Democrat ran as a conservative and away from Obama. The brand is clearly in deep trouble and McCain won't help because he couldn't care less about the GOP - he only cares about himself. In fact, it's clear he's running as a non-Republican.

The only good news is that after this election, maybe a GOP leader will emerge and force the party back to its conservative principles. Or the Dems screw the country up so bad that the same thing happens to them (don't count on it - they'll just blame everything on the GOP for not giving them enough money and the media will be happy to go along).

Obama: Jimmy Carter's 2nd Term?

The Dems are trying to paint McCain as a 3rd Bush term (which, compared to McCain, might be a pretty good thing). But to borrow an image from Rush, an Obama campaign would essentially be a second term for President Jimmy.

Democrat Race Baiting in MS

It appears that a reliably conservative Mississippi Congressional district will go Democrat in a very tight special election race. It probably doesn't matter much as these two will go head-to-head again in November.

The more interesting news is how the DCCC has campaigned here. Contrary to what Howard Dean and the Democrats have said, they showed how they plan to campaign this fall by pulling out the "Republicans and KKK" card.

VA Gov Kaine Proposes Huge Tax Increase

Virginia's Democrat Governor Tim Kaine is back to what he knows best - offering huge tax increases. His new proposal includes a 20% increase in the sales tax for Northern VA (currently at 5%) to pay for all of his new pet projects. (Nevermind that he calls it a "1% increase," which is misleading.)

I am pretty confident that Virginians are a bit too smart to agree to his proposal.

Gingrich: McCain's Cap & Trade a "Disaster"

Newt Gingrich seems to agree with my assessment of the cap and trade system being promoted by John McCain. Newt calls it an "economic disaster."

Chevron Chairman: U.S. Unserious About Energy

Chevron CEO Peter Robertson looks at our actions (lack of exploration permits, refinery permits, nuclear plants, etc.) and concludes that we are "unserious" about our "energy crisis."

Further, he says that Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia to convince them to produce more oil is "highly embarrassing" since we won't even bother to produce it ourselves.

And Congress and all three presidential candidates can look at themselves to place the blame.

Roy Spencer Responds to McCain

Roy Spencer, a scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, responds to John McCain's radical speech on climate control. It's a must read.

When the public finds out how much any legislation that punishes energy use is going to cost them, with no guarantee that anything we do will have a measurable impact on future climate, there will be a revolt just like the one now materializing in the U.K. and the EU. At some point, as they are faced with the stark reality that mankind’s requirement for an abundant source of energy cannot simply be legislated out of existence, the public will begin asking, “Just how sure are we that humans are causing global warming?”

Even though there has never been a single scientific paper published that has ruled out natural variability for most of the warming we’ve seen since 1850, Big Science has managed to convince politicians and much of the public that the science is settled. Apparently, our addition of nine molecules of carbon dioxide to each 100,000 molecules of air over the last 150 years can now be blamed for anything and everything we choose. Hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, floods, glaciers flowing toward the sea…. all of these used to happen naturally, but no more.

And it goes on...

This is the current "leader" of the GOP - and I can barely tell his cluelessness from that of the most liberal U.S. Senator.

McCain's Soviet-style Approach to Climate Tax

The WSJ (sub'n may be required) has an editorial today about John McCain's "cap-and-trade" approach to managing "climate change." The more one thinks about how this works, the more worried one becomes. Forget about McCain's rhetoric about "free market principles;" the truth could not be further off. In essence, the system would require a massive Soviet-style central planning group in charge of understanding, monitoring, imposing, regulating and litigating everything about our industrial businesses in this country that relates in any way to pollution. Even if it's a service business, we would need a PolitBureau to determine that this business has a zero-emissions mandate, with appropriate monitors.

Let's forget for a second that returning U.S. emissions to the 1990 level within 12 years would self-impose massive obstacles to our economy while China, India and the rest of the world continue their growth unabated. In fact, very few if any of the countries that adopted the Kyoto Protocol are even close to their promised emissions targets today. Even if we believe this is all very possible without any detrimental effects to our economy, in essence, McCain's plan could make Hillarycare look like child's play compared to the new bureaucracy this would create.

WaPO :You're All Racists

The Washington Post has a front-page article reminding you that if you don't vote for Obama, you are a racist. How else can they explain that their Messiah is not winning every state? Oh, and don't worry that he has the most liberal voting record in the Senate or that he wins 90%+ of black voters. Just admit the fact that all whites are racists.

It's funny, but I don't recall seeing these articles when Ken Blackwell, Michael Steele and Lynn Swann lost their respective election bids.

McCain's "Free Market Principles" on Global Warming

John McCain says that he is for "free market principles" in dealing with climate change. His cap-and-trade system allows the government to dictate how many emissions each company can produce. Then when the company goes above the "acceptable limit," it must pay additional money to the government.

Where I come from, this is called a tax increase. And since companies don't produce goods for free, they will pass along the higher taxes to consumers. The depressing thing is that there is nothing anyone can do about it since every candidate running for president is in favor of this ridiculous scheme.

The only "good" news is that it will not hurt service businesses. (Unfortunately for all you union members, it will certainly push more manufacturing jobs overseas since China has no intention of cutting its emissions whatsoever).

Who to Blame on Oil Prices

As most people know, oil prices are driven in the short term by a number of factors, including speculation, new reserve finds, marginal demand and supply. The media, of course, would like to blame it all on President Bush.

If there is a political party to blame, it is the Democrats. Apart from stating the obvious that the environmentalists have prevented the building of refineries, nuclear plants or additional drilling since the 70s, let's look at a recent history of oil prices.

When Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in November 2006, oil was less than $51 per barrel. Democrats campaigned in 2006 on reducing the price of oil (which however comical, was part of Pelosi's 100 day plan). Oil is now around $124 and the MSM has conveniently forgotten all of these facts.

Oil Price Direction: Watch the Polar Bear Decision

If you want a good indicator of whether oil could reach $200 per barrel soon, just watch the decision from the Interior Department (ordered by a judge to come by May 15) as to whether the polar bear should be put on the "threatened" list. If so, economist Kevin Hassett says that we better watch out because any new drilling or power plant could be challenged by environmental groups as a danger to global warming, and thereby a danger to the polar bear. Never mind that most people can't even agree on whether the polar bear population is increasing or decreasing - or that "global warming" is on "hiatus" for the next decade.

Let's hope that common sense prevails here.

McConnell: Obama, Dems Would Turn U.S. into France

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Democrats would turn us into France, with high taxes, high regulation and protectionism. He said that Democrats "get up every morning with three things on their minds: more taxes, more regulation and more litigation."

Global Warming Would Reduce Food Prices

The Australian notes that if global warming were to occur, farm output could increase dramatically, thereby reducing food prices. (Of course, we now know that "global warming" is on vacation for the next decade, so we'll have to revisit again in the future.)

Obama and All His Visited States

I had no idea that the U.S. consisted of so many states. I was taught that we only had 50.

MSM Global Warming Bias Endangering Public?

Is the MSM's slanting of global warming causing danger to the public? The American Thinker reports a story from the Boston Globe that indicates it is.

Obama Whines; Makes Fun of McCain's Age

Barack Obama claims to be a different kind of politician. So when John McCain suggested that there is a good reason that terrorists would rather have Obama win the presidency, Obama whines about it and takes a jab at John McCain's age. Somehow John McCain's suggestion was a "smear" on Obama as well:

"For him to toss out comments like that, I think, is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don't need name-calling in this debate."

It's pretty clear that, according to Obama, any statement that casts him in anything less than a messianic light is strictly off limits this campaign season. Sorry, Mr. Obama, but the leader of Hamas endorsed you and said he hopes you win.

Plans for Post-Invasion Iraq

Doug Feith has a new book called War and Decision, which is a firsthand account of the planning and decision making that went into going into Iraq. Contrary to the MSM version, the U.S. did have a plan for post-war Iraq, but the State Department vetoed those plans. (Yes, that State Dept. that still has many anti-Bush folks that have been working to undermine the President his entire term.)

In hindsight, it helps clarify why many Democrats were so fond of Paul Bremer (I recall John Kerry speaking very kindly of Bremer when Bush appointed him, which is very unusual for Democrats). Powerline has a bit more about the Defense vs. State post-war Iraq decision.

Top Al-Qaeda Leader in Iraq Nabbed

The top Al Qaeda leader in Iraq was captured by Coalition and Iraqi forces.

We must have captured him in Afghanistan and shipped him to Iraq because Obama keeps telling us that Al Qaeda isn't even in Iraq.

Operation Chaos Still Going Strong

The Washington Post had a front page story on Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos, stating erroneously that Rush called it off.

This is hilarious. Rush mockingly "directed" the superdelegates to select Obama as their nominee in order to guarantee a Democrat loss this fall. Obviously, the Washington Post (and most reporters) simply repeat what they hear from other journalists, whether they are right or not.

Rest assured - Rush's Operation Chaos will continue to encourage Republicans in upcoming primaries to vote for Hillary, thus continuing the entertaining infighting and race baiting within the Democrat Party.

DRS to Sell to Italians - Where's the Outrage?

Dubai wants to buy a shipping company with ports in the U.S. and Congress is outraged at "selling our security" out to foreigners. It will be interesting to see if we get a similar reaction when Italian defense firm Finmeccanica is trying to buy DRS Technologies, whose command, control and intelligence systems are far more sensitive to U.S. defense than the previous Dubai ports deal.

RINO Hunting

Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, wrote an opinion piece in today's WSJ (subscription may be required; see also here at CFG website) defending his RINO hunting. He examines what happens when the GOP establishment supports candidates simply to elect more Republicans in an attempt to keep power.

Let us take a moment to consider how these liberal Republicans are serving the GOP today. Mr. Specter, just in the past year, joined Democrats in voting for "card check" (which allows unions to organize without holding a secret ballot election), for increasing the minimum wage, for expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and for the bloated farm bill.

Mr. Chafee, who was defeated, switched his party affiliation to Independent and has endorsed Barack Obama for president. Following his loss to conservative Tim Walberg in the 2006 primary, Rep. Schwarz of Michigan backed a state-level tax hike, and threatened to run against Mr. Walberg as a Democrat. Mr. Gilchrest has hinted recently that he will endorse the Democratic nominee for his seat. All four of these pols were heralded by the Republican establishment as genuine conservatives who would go to bat for the party when it mattered.

Conversely, many of the Republican candidates the Club for Growth's members have supported over the years are now leaders in the conservative movement and favorites among the party's grass roots. Sens. Coburn and Jim DeMint and Reps. Scott Garrett, Jeff Flake, John Campbell, Jeb Hensarling, Tim Walberg and Mike Pence are just some of the brave leaders who have led the fight for limited government and greater economic freedom.

Amen.

Corruption in Lake County?

Lake County, IN didn't report its election results until well after midnight last night, delaying the state election results until after most Americans went to bed. Why the delay?

Although neither candidate filed a formal complaint, many believe that it was due to good old Chicago-style corruption:

"They wanted to put Barack Obama over the top with Lake County's vote and games were being played like in the 1950s," said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott, who endorsed Clinton. "It went bad when a lot of people were watching."

In 1962, then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy called Lake County one of the most corrupt counties in the nation. The state Supreme Court tossed out the 2003 mayoral election in East Chicago because of campaign misconduct that resulted in dozens of voter fraud convictions.

It's also where former congresswoman Katie Hall resigned in 2005 as the Gary city clerk after pleading guilty to federal mail fraud charges. Those stemmed from accusations that she made office workers raise money for her re-election campaigns in order to keep their jobs.

Perhaps it's an instance of typical government incompetence, but I believe an equally likely scenario is that Obama cronies wanted to see how many votes needed to be made up to win the state. And as recently as 2006, there were dozens, including 3 police officers in Lake County charged with election fraud.

And we also had this from Gary Mayor Rudy Clay:

"Let me tell you, when all the votes are counted, when Gary comes in, I think you're looking at something for the world to see."

Media Wants to Force Clinton Out

Not that it's surprising, but the Obama water carriers are trying to get Hillary to step down. This clip sums it up well.

Supposedly, if Obama doesn't get the nomination, it will be stolen from him - never mind that he would neither be ahead in popular vote or delegates (or it would be very close anyway) if Florida and Michigan were counted or even had re-votes.

The bottom line is that Barack cannot win the nomination on his own - the superdelegates have to hand it to him...I guess it's fitting that affirmative action could hand the Democrats a loss.

Bolton: US Should Bomb Iranian Camps

John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, says that the U.S. should bomb camps in Iran that are training militants to fight in Iraq. I think Bush should do it his last day in office as a gift to the world.

Released Gitmo Detainee Commits Bombing

This is why liberals who want to shut down Gitmo should never be appeased. A released detainee becomes a suicide bomber in Mosul. Nice work.

Obama Transcending Race?

The "transcendental" candidate isn't exactly transcending race, winning 9 of 10 blacks but losing 6 of 10 whites. From Politico. I don't care what they might say in public, but Democrat leaders can't be happy with their candidate's showing.

John Hawkins agrees.

Gore: Cyclone a Consequence of Global Warming

Al Gore is at it again. His highly skilled analysis says that the cyclone that killed thousands in Myanmar was a result of global warming.

We have entered an era, for the first time in the earth's history, that there simply are no more natural disasters. According to Gore, if it's hot, it's due to global warming. If it snows, it's global warming. If it's rainy, global warming. Hurricanes, floods...global warming. Lack of hurricanes...global warming. Ice thickening in Antarctica, global warming.

Schumer: B of A Should Pay Less for Countrywide

Sen. Chuck Schumer has asked Bank of America to consider lowering its bid for Countrywide Financial because of its "recent history."

"These latest revelations should make Bank of America think even harder about how they want to proceed,'' the New York Democrat said in prepared remarks before a Senate hearing today on how Countrywide treats borrowers who've fallen behind on loans. "These practices will not be allowed to continue.''

I understand that Congress can't keep itself from inserting itself wherever it can, but I wonder if Sen. Schumer understands the implications of blowing up the acquisition of a major financial institution (and the largest mortgage lender in the country), without which, would likely go bankrupt.

Separately, it was the Democrats who were praising (and actually encouraging) institutions for lending more money to low income and minority neighborhoods over the past decade. And now Congress decided that these same institutions weren't there to stop minorities from borrowing.

The Angriest Potential First Lady

Yuval Levin has a good summary of Michelle Obama's stump speech in North Carolina. In case you weren't aware, you are a very negative person passing on your bitterness to your children because of your struggles:

What happens in that nation is that people do become isolated, they do live in a level of division, because see when you’re that busy struggling all the time, which most people that you know and I know are, see you don’t have time to get to know your neighbors, you don’t have time to reach out and have conversations to share stories, in fact you feel very alone in your struggle because you feel somehow it must be your fault that you’re struggling that hard, everybody else must be doing ok, I must be doing something wrong, so you hide…What happens in that kind of nation is that people are afraid. Because when your world’s not right no matter how hard you work, then you become afraid of everyone and everything, because you don’t know whose fault it is, why you can’t get a handle on life, why you can’t secure a better future for your kids.

Not exactly Reagan optimism. Very odd for the wife of the self-proclaimed candidate of hope.

*Update*
Byron York has another, even more bothersome, perspective on angry Michelle.

Groups Still Suing to Stop Exlploration

Despite record oil prices, most environmentalists are still screaming about drilling. Groups recently filed a lawsuit against BP and Shell to stop exploration in the Chuchki sea in the Arctic because they say it could harm the whales.

CNN Says No More Questions About Wright

In a prelude to the general election this fall, CNN has declared a "Wright-free zone," meaning questions about Obama's pastor are not allowed. I'm guessing that it also extends to Obama's relationship with Tony Rezko and Bill Ayers, since they could also damage him just as badly.

Incidentally, Democrat strategist Liz Chadderdon appeared on Hannity and Colmes last night and said that it was the first time she had ever even heard of the story about Bill Ayers. And Obama's not still getting a free pass?

Clinton Library Won't Release Berger Documents

The Clinton Library used national security as a defense for not releasing copies of the documents that Sandy Berger stole from the National Archives.

No outrage from the media? I'm sure that Bush's staff would get the same pass if they broke the law and stole classified documents also, right?

Bill Ayers Stomping on U.S. Flag

Obama is not going to like this. His buddy Bill Ayers decides to stomp on and desecrate the American flag.

I wonder if Obama will condemn and express his "shock" that Ayers could do such a thing as he did with Wright...

Novak: Czar Nancy's Rule

Anyone who feels that government spends too much money will probably be annoyed with Bob Novak's description of what has happened to the last remnants of fiscal discipline in the House.

There has been little or no public Republican protest over seizure of the appropriating process by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her clique. For the second straight year, no appropriations bill other than defense is scheduled for passage. Instead, spending details are crafted in the Speaker's Office, negating President George W. Bush's veto strategy. In a little-noticed maneuver April 23, Pelosi won passage of a bill preventing Medicaid billions from being saved through Bush administration regulations. Despite the GOP leadership's nominal opposition, House Republicans voted for higher spending by two to one.

...Unchanged in Nancy Pelosi's House is bipartisan devotion to the three-day week.

Democrats voted unanimously for Nancy's spending plans, while only 1/3 of Republicans bothered to vote against them.

Light in the Mortgage Loss Tunnel?

According to the Bank of England, banks have been too conservative in predicting mortgage credit losses.

Britain's banks are overstating losses from the turmoil in the credit markets and the sub-prime lending debacle, the Bank of England says.

Some £12bn has been written down by UK banks during the crisis but, in its latest Financial Stability Report, the Bank says that may be too high. "Prices in some credit markets are now likely to overstate the losses that will ultimately be felt by the financial system," it says. The Bank estimates that depressed market prices for sub-prime mortgage-backed securities imply a default rate of 76 per cent, with a loss to the banks of 50 per cent of the loan, both unprecedented. The Bank's analysis would mean a recovery in these prices, as bargain hunters come to swoop on undervalued securities, with a resulting easing in the credit crisis in the coming months.

It's impossible to say with certainty, but it would not surprise me if U.S. banks have also been overly conservative in their asset writedowns, despite what many doom-and-gloom analysts (read: Meredith Whitney) say.

Dean's Bold Faced Lie on FoxNews

Howard Dean was on FoxNews this morning and it was a typical performance for the head of the Democrat National Committee. In his most ridiculous comment, Dean said to Chris Wallace that any mention of linking Obama to Jeremiah Wright is race baiting. And he said that it was a tactic Republicans have used for years.

We [Democrats] don't use this stuff, we never have used this staff and we're not gonna start now."

Hello, Howard Dean!? Ever hear of Hillary and Bill Clinton? Who do you think first brought up the issue of race in your own primary? It was Bill Clinton comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson in South Carolina.

UK Journalist Embedded with Enemy in Iraq

In a new first (and a new unbelievable low), UK "journalist" Hala Jaber has embedded with the militant Mahdi Army in Iraq, which is trying to kill Iraqis and Coalition forces. And he serves as their latest propaganda mouthpiece.

Obama's New "Wonderful Young Pastor"

Although Barack Obama's church has a "wonderful new young pastor" in Obama's words, I don't think white people are going to feel any more comfortable with him. He may not have said things as over the top as Wright, but his fiery black liberation theology is still not helpful in a society where races are supposed to get along instead of claiming victimhood. Worldnetdaily has a mini review.

Obama Supporter/Biden Staffer Totally Classless

Marty Parrish, an Obama supporter who used to run Democrat Senator's Joe Biden's office, asks McCain a ridiculously crude question about his wife at a townhall meeting. You can see the details here.

Imagine if a Republican supporter and/or Tom Delay staffer asked this question of Obama or Hillary. It would be on the front pages for months.

Congressmen Still Enjoying Free Cars

As if their own health plan, Social Security and other pension benefits (which are different from the ordinary taxpayer) aren't enough, many Congressmen still enjoy free cars and gasoline, courtesy of the American taxpayer.

The End of Communist Rule in London?

London had mayoral elections yesterday. The votes still haven't been counted yet. And I'd hate to count my chickens first, but it looks like RED KEN, as mayor Ken Livingston is affectionately known, may have been a casualty. Red Ken is known for his pro-communist, anti-American, anti-semitic viewpoints. At the same time he's been known to cuddle up with those from Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and even Muslim terrorists.

It still has not been decided definitively, but I wouldn't mind reading the obituary of his mayoral term. Good for London. Good for everyone. Good for world peace.

Kyoto Signatories Not Keeping Up

Signatories of the Kyoto Accord to regulate carbon emissions are quick to congratulate themselves and castigate the U.S. Except that, as Red State points out, the U.S. is trouncing them in terms of carbon emissions efficiency.

The Reason Barack Never Left His Church

When the news about Reverend Wright first surfaced, pundits wondered why was it that Barack stayed with the church, when it's obviously run by an incendiary racist anti-American. Others questioned why he never spoke out against him or even talked to Wright about his sermons. We all know what's Barack's answer was: that he did not know that Wright hates the USA and that he never heard him say bad things about white people.

Well, Wright has been on tour now for 3 days and in those 3 days, he's said said something hateful or controversial in every single speech he has given. He has a 100% hit rate in his speeches.

Are we to believe that this is new? That Wright, in 20 years, only occasionally (as Barack calls "snippets") expressed hate towards groups different from his own? This seems to me nearly impossible.

Barack would have us believe that this week is new. He's finally heard the lunacy of Wright and now that he has, he has spoken up about it. Many, including Hillary, have applauded this, and some people that are naive may actually believe this.

But the most logical conclusion is that the real reason Barack never left his church or spoke out against Wright is that he agrees with him. Yes, Barack Obama has lied to us. But the real lie is the outrage that he is feigning right now.

**UPDATE**
Rasmussen just came out with a poll that indicate that the American people agree with me. Only 30% of Americans actually believe Obama is actually outraged, while 58% believe he's lying because of political convenience.

Wright and Obama Knew This Was Coming

James Taranto points out that a NYTimes article back in April 2007 claimed that Obama and Wright agreed that they might ultimately have to separate:

Mr. Wright, who has long prided himself on criticizing the establishment, said he knew that he may not play well in Mr. Obama's audition for the ultimate establishment job.

"If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," Mr. Wright said with a shrug. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen."

Schwarzenegger's Jet Commute May End

Gov. Schwarzenegger, who preaches climate saving but practices daily Gulfstream commuting from LA to Sacramento, might have to change his ways.

Arnold's brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, was one of the members on the Santa Monica city council to ban the type of jet that Schwarzenegger commutes to work with. Oh the irony.

Where Were Obama's Friends?

The WSJ asks an interesting question this morning - "Where were Obama's friends?" No one from Oprah to Kennedy to Claire McKaskill dared step forward into the Obama-Wright mess.

And as The Weekly Standard pointed out in its blog yesterday, politicians in red states are now forced to run from Obama as far and as fast as they can.

Global Warming Theorists Backtrack

It was inevitable, wasn't it? Right after a winter that recorded record snowfall and much colder temperatures than expected, we now have some backtrack. Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Science is now saying that the world, or at least parts of the world may experience global cooling over the next 10 years. This quote is funny, but it is what we would expect:

If we don't experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us.

Umm, ok. Luckily most professions cannot use lack of evidence as actual evidence or they would be fired. Global warming theorists are the exception. If the earth warms - that is evidence. If it doesn't, that also counts. Now, even if we see cooling over the next 10 years, again, more evidence of this horrible about-to-be calamity.

First we heard that warming would cause hotter summers in the UK, after one hot summer. This has now been revised to causing rainy cool weather, after one rainy cool summer. Then we heard it would cause more hurricanes, particularly in the US. Now this is not the case. Now the earth might cool for decades.

Gimme a break!