Three things are certain.  Death, Taxes and Democrats winning elections In Districts where there is an effective Democratic machine.  Yet Turner, a Republican, just won the special election to replace Anthony Weiner in the 9^th New York congressional district.  It has probably happened before, but the last time I remember was in 1979 when Jane Bryne beat the Daly Machine candidate during the Chicago Mayor election.  There had been several major snowstorms and the citizens were less than pleased.  But, remember that Bryne was a liberal Democrat who had previously been connected with the Daly Machine herself.  In addition, she won a Democratic primary, so ultimately the Republican still lost.  A Republican actually winning an election in this type of district is rarer than the sighting of an Ivory Billed Wood Pecker. 

Obama carried this district by 11 points and this is the home turf of Charles Schumer.    Democrats poured $700,000 into this race during the last week, compared to $13,000 spent by Turner.  In addition, Weprin himself outspent Turner two to one on this race.  Democrats knew the significance of this election.  The following article describes the all-out effort by the Queens Democratic Party Machine:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63436.html

Inside its headquarters — which doubles as the Weprin campaign’s nerve center — get-out-the vote workers rushed to pick up manila folders containing block-by-block layouts of the district; others sat at the phones, methodically working through voter-contact lists. Volunteers fanned out across Queens, handing out glossy placards highlighting Weprin’s endorsement from the New York Times editorial page.

If you go outside your home, turn your head toward Washington D.C. and sniff carefully you will detect a new odor.  “Democratic flop sweat.”  It is now common in all Democratic circles but noticeable stronger on the left.  If things continue on the current course, expect the stench to increase significantly.

You will also notice the faint sound of footsteps.  That is the sound of the Jews in District 9 deserting the Democratic Party.  Expect the sound to increase and more and more people desert the sinking ship of state.  We will soon be calling it the Democ Party, because the rats are leaving the ship.

TDM

The Washington Cathedral planned to hold a major interfaith 9/11 Memorial service.  They invited Leon Panetta and Barack Obama, but did not invite George W. Bush or anyone else from the Bush administration.  They invited a Buddhist Nun and an Imam, but no evangelical Christians.  The explanation given was that since the Cathedral itself is an Episcopal church they felt their own clergy would be more than adequate to serve as the Christian representatives.

Perhaps it is just coincidence, but it appears that God was not impressed.  First there was a rare East Coast earthquake on 8/23/2011 that damaged the Cathedral.  The Cathedral ignored this warning and continued on.  Then, on Wednesday, September 7, 2011, a crane fell over at the Cathedral:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/7/crane-falls-washington-national-cathedral/

The service has to be moved to the Kennedy Center:

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/press/PR-5BC6E-LN0001.shtml

Just saying!

TDM

Sometimes a picture is worth much more than a thousand words.  This is from the Wall Street Journal today.

One President is praying to God, the other thinks he is God.

TDM

There is an old saying that “victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan.”  JFK, among others, used that quotation.  The Obama administration loaned $525 million to Solyndra, then bragged about this as the first show piece in a wave of new jobs created by investing in green energy. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-public-integrity/solyndra-investigation-ex_b_955752.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk3%7C94164

It, like most other Obama ideas, was a major bust.  Solyndra has filed for bankruptcy and the FBI is investigating whether or not this was just stupidity or was it fraud.  At a minimum, it was an incredibly bad investment.  Obama personally sat in on meeting with Solyndra executives and as recently as May of 2010, visited Solyndra, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, to brag about all those green energy jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYiJ-_K9NCo

Now the White House is trying to back away big time and this scandal is blowing sky high.  It is so bad that Henry Waxman and Diana DeGette took the time to write a letter to House Committee investigating this to explain why this is not there fault because they were lied to by Solyndra executives.  They threw the executives at Solyndra under teh bus faster than Obama threw his white grandmother.   When people like Waxman and DeGette start running away from things it is best to expect a really big explosion.

This stinks to high heaven and the White House is probably torn between covering up Fast and Furious or covering up Solyndragate.

TDM

It has always been difficult to understand why Europe has been so willing to allow unbridled socialism.  The following article, from CBS News, offer the best explanation so far:

 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/06/health/main20102020.shtml

 The percentage of people who are mentally ill in Europe is remarkably similar to the percentage of people who are extreme left wing liberals in the United States.  Coincidence?

 TDM

Maureen Dowd must have been off her meds when she wrote this: 

 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/dowd-one-and-done.html?_r=2

This is a devastating rebuke of Obama as a leader.  If a republican or a conservative wrote this they would be facing charges of racism this morning.  Who knows?  This is so bad that Maureen Dowd may experience some of this herself.

She basically confirms the opinions of the most vocal Obama supporters:

Obama is still suffering from the Speech Illusion, the idea that he can come down from the mountain, read from a Teleprompter, cast a magic spell with his words and climb back up the mountain, while we scurry around and do what he proclaimed.

The days of spinning illusions in a Greek temple in a football stadium are done. The One is dancing on the edge of one term… 

The arc of justice is stuck at the top of a mountain. Maybe Obama was not even the person he was waiting for.

In spite of the fact that socialism has failed every time it was tried, the liberal left still believes it is the pathway to paradise.  Nothing anyone could say and no amount of evidence will ever change their mind.  But, they no longer believe that Obama is capable of leading them to the mountain top. 

TDM

The CIA has always had a reputation as a rogue agency.  Hollywood has portrayed this agency a lot of ways, mostly negative.  It is well documented that the CIA tried to assassinate Fidel Castro.  They were also involved in other activities that angered the liberal left.  After some embarrassing mistakes, the Church Committee was authorized to investigate alleged abuse by the CIA.  The liberal left was among the loudest voices demanding congressional oversight:

 http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Church_Committee_Created.htm

 There have been three Executive orders on assassinations.  The first, 11905 was issued by Gerald Ford on February 18, 1976.  The second, 12036, was issued by Jimmy Carter on January 24, 1978.  The third, 12333 was issued by Ronald Reagan on December 4, 1983.  To the best of my knowledge, this executive order remains in effect.

 The Reagan order contained the same language as the Carter order:

 “No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.… No agency of the Intelligence Community shall request or otherwise encourage, directly or indirectly, any person, organization, or government agency to undertake activities forbidden by this order or by applicable law.” [

When there is a Republican President, the liberal left expresses outrage at the very hint of an assassination.  George W. Bush was even criticized for the mission that killed Saddam Hussein’s sons during a fire fight, even though this was during a war and they were definitely shooting back.

http://www.mcgeorge.edu/documents/centers/government/TARGETING%20SADDAM-Final%20Draft.pdf

But the liberal left has been deafly silent on this subject during the Obama administration.  They said nothing when Obama ordered the “hit” on Osama bin Laden.  There was not even a pretense of taking him alive.  (I am glad he is gone, but justified or not, this was an assassination.)  Now, according to the Washington Post, Obama administration has allegedly transformed the mission of the CIA from intelligence gathering to a full time assassination squad. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-shifts-focus-to-killing-targets/2011/08/30/gIQA7MZGvJ_story.html

Bill Clinton attacked Yugoslavia without approval from congress and he made no attempt to get UN approval.  NATO said it was ok, so it was ok.  When some members of congress, including Tom Campbell and Dennis Kucinich filed a Declaratory Relief action against Bill Clinton, the majority of the liberal left and the main stream media just ignored the issue: 

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/ratner.htm

George Bush attacked Iraq with both UN approval and bi-partisan approval from congress, yet the liberal left still considers this to be an illegal war.  (They rarely, if ever, mention Yugoslavia.)  Obama attacked Libya, with no authority, and refused to even call it a war.  Yet the liberal left, and the supporting main stream media, has been noticeably silent.

If this article is correct than Obama is apparently conducting wide scale assassinations.  Bush ordered drone attacks on terrorists, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.  But, the Bush administration at least argued that this was an exception to the rule during a time of war.  The liberal left was vocal in their criticism of Bush for doing this. 

The Obama administration has expanded this to places like Yemen and Libya, where he himself says we are not engaged in war.  He won’t even call it combat.  He has not requested authority from congress or anyone else.  In addition, Obama refuses to use the word war in describing the fight against terrorism.  Apparently the only standard for Obama is whether or not he (or the French) thinks it’s a good idea. 

The liberal left and the mainstream media still tries to portray the Bush administration as evil because of the decision to water board certain terrorists.  So far, no one seems to be concerned over Obama turning the CIA into Murder Incorporated.  I guess killing terrorists is ok, as long as we don’t water board them first.  In addition killing them eliminates the inconvenience of having to decide whether or not to use military tribunals instead of trying them in federal court.

It is my understanding that at least some of these people are U.S. citizens.  That raises some serious questions.  Do we really want the President of the United States able to order the assassination of an American citizen solely because he considers them a threat?  Sometimes the rule of law is messy and it gives undeserved protection to our worst offenders.  But there is a reason for the rule of law.   I can perhaps understand why, in an emergency a President may deliberately violate the law.  Lincoln certainly did that during the civil war when he suspended the writ of habeas corpus.  But at least Lincoln acknowledged this and explained the justification for his actions.  In addition, even during the civil war there were people who challenged Lincoln about this decision.  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, ordered Lincoln to hand over John Merryman, an active and vocal secessionist, who was being held by the military: 

http://www.etymonline.com/cw/habeas.htm

Taney ordered Merryman brought before him on a writ of habeas corpus and commanded the military officer in charge of Merryman to show “the cause, if any, for his arrest and detention.”

Lincoln just ignored the order.  (Keep in mind that Taney was also the Supreme Court Justice who issued the Dred Scott decision.)  But the point is that at least the issue was discussed and Lincoln did explain his reason for making these decisions.  In retrospect, Lincoln is considered to be one of our greatest Presidents because he made the decisions that saved the Union.  If you want more information on how this has been viewed legal scholars following is the link:

http://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/essays/biography/9

Obama, on the other hand, has given no explanation or justification at all. 

A President has the duty to protect the country and one suspects other Presidents have authorized missions that were legally over the line.  I am relatively sure that no one is overly concerned with regard to the health and well-being of the terrorists being targeted by Obama in Yemen and Pakistan.  But, if Bush had done this there would be loud calls for his impeachment from the liberal left.  Instead all we hear now deafening roar of silence.   In addition, it appears we are sacrificing our intelligence capabilities in exchange for just eliminating specific people.  In my opinion it was the downgrading of our intelligence operations under Bill Clinton that lead to 9-11 in the first place.  At best this appears to be another convenient short term fix as a replacement for long term strategic planning.

 TDM

A friend of mine’s favorite saying is that “even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.”  This is usually used after a miraculous, but unexpected, golf shot.  Orly Taitz filed a requested for information on Obama’s social security number.  She has a good point.  There are a lot of reasons to suspect this is a fraudulent number.  The judge, as always, ruled against her:

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=339629#ixzz1WbXE5voC

But his reasoning behind the decision is chilling:

He concluded that there’s no real interest in determining whether the Obama Social Security number is genuine or fraudulent, arguing that the need for privacy for the president trumps all else.

“The SSA explained that the Privacy Act of 1974 … protects the personal information of social security number holders,” he wrote. “The SSA determined … the plaintiff had identified no public interest that would be served by disclosure.

Plaintiff makes no secret of her intention to use the redacted Form SS-5 to identify the holder of social security number xxxx-xxx-4425 – or, as plaintiff puts it, to confirm her suspicion that the president is fraudulently using that number,” the judge wrote.

but Lamberth wrote in the case against Michael Astrue, Social Security commissioner, that whether Obama is using a fake number isn’t his concern.

“Even if plaintiff’s allegations were true, an individual’s status as a public official does not, as plaintiff contends, ‘make exemption 6 irrelevant to him and his vital records.'”

The judge did not rule that Obama’s social security number was valid.  He did not rule that Orly Taitz didn’t have good cause for suspicion.  Instead he ruled that it didn’t matter whether or not Obama was using a fraudulent social security number.

Just think of the ramifications of this.  For anyone else, using a fraudulent social security number would be a felony:

http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0208.htm

Orly Taitz has a long history of losing at court.  I doubt that the trend will change anytime soon.  But sometimes you win by losing.  Someone is going to read this decision and pick up on the significance of this ruling.  It’s too bad Donald Trump made his move on the birth certificate, because the social security number is a much bigger issue.  It will be interesting to see if someone, who matters, figures how just how explosive this could be.  Richard Nixon once said:  “people have got to know whether or not their president’s a crook.”  Someone who uses a fraudulent social security number is, by definition, a crook.  We will soon learn if anyone was paying attention.

 TDM

I must admit that my wife and I enjoyed watching Dancing with the Stars.  It was a silly show, but relatively harmless.  Unfortunately the politically correct crowd has taken over and there is zero chance I will ever watch it again.  First, they chose to add Ron Artest to the cast.  That alone was nauseating.  Last season there was a rumor they wanted to add a lesbian couple.  We were spared that when Portia de Rossi turned down the chance at glory.  (For those who don’t know, Portia is the “wife” of Ellen DeGeneres.)  Dancing with the Stars did manage to get their lesbian couple in the Israeli clone version.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but watching two females dance just doesn’t cut the mustard for me.  I am even less interested in watch two men dance.  But even this was not far enough.  Now we learn that Chas Bono, the transgender former female child of Sonny and Cher, has joined the cast.  (Remember the cute little girl, Chastity Bono on the Sonny and Cher show?)  Chas is rather proud of his new look, and had surgery to remove anatomically inconvenient parts, although it is not clear whether or not anything was added. 

I really don’t care much about what people do in their private lives, but I have zero interest in watching this nonsense.  I don’t think anyone will even bother to organize a boycott.  Finally ABC  found a way to develop a program even more disgusting than the garbage on MSNBC.  Congratulations.

 TDM

Obama’s approval rating is sinking faster than the Titanic.  The economy has slowed to a crawl, probably headed toward a double dip recession.  Libya has descended into
chaos and anarchy.  Egypt, formerly our best ally in the Arab world, appears to be edging toward war with Israel.  Iran is lurching toward a nuclear weapon,
while promising to exterminate Israel.  In summary, the Anointed One has botched nearly everything.

So when Hurricane Irene came on the scene, the White House was delirious at a fresh chance for Obama to look Presidential.  Remember Rahm Emanuel pointing out that you can’t waste a good crisis?  What could be better?  Here was a chance for Obama to show the world how much better he is at handling these things than the ever pathetic George Bush.   So the Anointed One cut his Martha’s Vineyard vacation short by about seven hours and went on a desperate search for a compelling photo op.  It
started with a shot of him “taking command” at FEMA headquarters.  The picture is remarkably similar to the situation room picture taken during the Osama bin Laden raid.  Obama looked uninvited, irrelevant and perplexed.  Then he gave a rambling
monolog lecturing everyone about how this is a really big hurricane and people
should expect high winds and water.  Really?  A hurricane can bring high winds and water?  We are so lucky to have someone as brilliant as Obama point that out!  In the meantime, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Christie and Governor Cuomo were showing real leadership.  They may have made mistakes, but no one had any doubt as to who was in charge.  It wasn’t Obama.

The problem was that Obama had nothing to say and nothing to do.  Obama probably believed the main stream media myth that Bush dropped the ball with regard to Katrina.  That is factually incorrect.  Bush made a declaration of emergency early on and authorized FEMA to pre-position supplies.  His prompt action allowed Air National Guard Units from around the country to converge on New Orleans in record time, and they conducted the greatest search and rescue operation in world history.  The Air National Guard helicopters literally flew out to sea and followed Katrina on shore.  They were rescuing people before Shepard Smith got done telling the
world that New Orleans had dodged a bullet.  Thousands of lives were saved as a result of his leadership.  There is little else that Bush could have done under the circumstances.  FEMA was never intended to be a substitute for local first responders.  The problem was that Katrina was a Category 5 storm that downgraded to a Category 3, not a Category 2 that downgraded to a Category 1.  In addition, Bush had to deal with an incompetent Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, and an inept Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco.  Neither of them showed an ounce of leadership.  Bush had to prod both of them to do the things that Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Christie, Governor Cuomo and all the other state and local officials did
instinctively during Irene.  Did you ever notice that no one discusses the “failed” emergency response in Mississippi during Katrina, even though that is where the brunt of the storm actually hit?  That is because the Governor of Mississippi was Haley Barbour, and he was on top of it.  It’s too bad the main stream media failed to
notice.

Hurricane Irene became the storm that never was; in some cases, the news coverage bordered on being humorous.  There were all these live shots of news reporters standing outside, in the middle of the storm, often surrounded by civilians who didn’t even bother to wear rain gear.  In one case, a Weather Channel reporter interviewed a girl, about ten years old, wearing shorts and a tee shirt, who said she just came down to see the big waves.   He was outfitted head to toe in expensive storm gear that looked like it was designed to survive an arctic expedition. Even the pictures of the raging waters failed to impress. Anyone, who has visited Point Reyes in Northern
California, has seen waves a lot more impressive than those.

To make things worse, everyone is gearing up for the 10^th anniversary of 9-11.  As a result, people are being reminded of what happened and how George W. Bush responded.   National Geographic ran an hour-long interview with President Bush, and it was stunning.  The contrast in leadership ability between Bush and Obama could not be starker.  There is going to be a lot of 9-11coverage.  It is going to provide a visible reminder of the kind of leadership George W. Bush provided during those
trying times.  Nothing could be more damaging to Obama.

TDM