It's Like Two Departments Of Justice In One

Competing news from the DoJ: first, the tenth anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act offered an opportunity to indirectly talk up Obama's side in the Ground Zero mosque controversy.  That generated this insight:

While our nation has achieved great progress in advancing civil rights, many individuals and communities continue to face discrimination and hate. For example, nearly a decade after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Muslim Americans continue to struggle for acceptance in many communities, and still face discrimination. Of 18 RLUIPA matters involving possible discrimination against Muslims that the Department has monitored since September 11, 2001, eight have been opened since May of 2010. This fact is a sober reminder that, even in the 21st century, challenges to true religious liberty remain.

A sober reminder indeed.  But has nothing happened in the ten years after 9/11?  And are libs now promoting the regime of warmonger Bush and torturer Cheney as the halcyon period of Muslim relation in the US? 

Meanwhile, the head of the FBI (also part of the DoJ), had this to say about the terrorist threat facing America:

"Groups affiliated with al Qaeda are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures," Mueller said. "It appears domestic extremism and radicalization appears to have become more pronounced based on the number of disruptions and incidents."

Troubling!  What incident do they have in mind?

The attacks cited [by National Counterterrorism Chief Michael Leiter] included:

The disruption of a plot to bomb the New York City subway by Najibullah Zazi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, last September.

The attack at Ft Hood Texas by gunman Army Maj. Nidal Hassan which resulted in 13 people killed and over 30 wounded.

The attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 by alleged al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The averted May 1 bombing in Times Square by Faisal Shahzad.

Not a lot of Buddhists or Catholics on that list. 

Comments

[MarkO]

Don't you love pretend? What about a little role playing? Who wants to be Little Bo Peep?

I think I liked everything better when it was only a love that dared not speak its name.

[maryrose]

Build the mosque elsewhere and find Eric Holder guilty in the Black Panther cover-up.

[maryrose]

clarice:
Have fun at your party tonight. You are entertaining the future of the country tonight.
Also I eat broccoli and enjoy yellow mustard in potato salad and deviled eggs.Your recipes always sound yummy!

[matt]

well, our TSA will protect us, won't they?

[Pagar]

"Groups affiliated with al Qaeda are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures"

How does leaving our southern border completely wide open deter them? I must not understand something.

[Captain Hate]

O/T For the first time in a justifiably long time, I watched part of what passes for the national news on NBC. One of the "top stories" was how one of the Facebook founders is giving the Newark school system a huge amount of money. They had a picture of Chris Christie and a few other pols and it sounded like a feel good type of thing passing for news. But they weren't content with that; they had to point out that with some new movie about the founding of Facebook there's some doubt about who was most responsible between, I guess, a couple people. And that this might be a way for whoever is donating the money to boost his image.

I'm watching this and wondering how this differs from some Hollywood gossip show with speculation based on a movie that isn't getting marketed (at least that I could tell) as a documentary passing as something that the majority of the viewing audience should regard as "news". I stopped watching at that point.

[Danube of Thought]

CH, consider that there are about 22 minutes of content in each night's broadcast. Close your eyes and try to imagine the people who decide what will and will not be included in those 22 minutes. Think of their upbringing, their education, their instincts, their life experiences, their social and professional acquaintances, What sort of content would you expect to see?

[Captain Hate]

You're right, DoT; it shouldn't be surprising at all. Depressing though; very very depressing....

[Clarice]

The buzz I heard tonight suggests tomorrow's black panther hearings will be dynamite and there will be WH involvement. Again, I ask you, my friends, what impact will this have on the mid terms if true?

[JM Hanes]

We'll have a chance to look at DoJ #3 tomorrow morning, which is when Christopher Coates volunteered to testify on the Black Panther case. Bravo to Frank Wolf, who gave his stern warning to Holder serious teeth by invoking Coates' whistleblower status. I sure hope the Commission's hearing will be broadcast, but for some reason I find C-Span's scheduling pages absolutely inscrutable.

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

If we're lucky, it will have 20% of the impact that it ought to have.

[Clarice]

I have to run an errand in the morning. Keep checking the Washington Examiner which has had the inside scoop on this story. PJM is also well connected to it.

[srp]

It's a double-edged sword. Raising racial issues at this moment might--I emphasize might--create a set of talking points for the Dems to energize some parts of their base. Nothing gets them excited like a racial-grievance party. The Republicans are at lower risk if all the discussion is about spending, the economy, etc.

OTOH, this kind of thing could turn into a "last-straw" firestorm for the Republican base and some independents and push turnout just over the threshold in some close races. In a way, it would be better for the GOP if the media underplay the thing, pissing off the conservative base without energizing the Dems.

[centralcal]

JMH: I agree with you totally about CSpan's scheduling being incomprehensible. They definitely need some improvement.

Wow, Clarice, I am at once envious of you, and so proud to know you at the same time.

[JM Hanes]

Will do, Clarice.

I loved the way Wolf wrapped up his missive to Holder:

"A copy of this letter and Mr. Coate's testimony before the commission will be submitted to the Congressional Record for public review."

Ouch. I feel like I've been seeing Wolf's name attached to a number of really serious oversight issues like this one -- in steady, not flamboyant way.

[MayBee]

Wow. The guy who wrote that "We are the Super Rich" blog post has resigned from UC due to threats to his family.

Do not stand between the mob and the person they think is going to give them money.

[Janet]

Raising racial issues at this moment

I don't know about the rest of America, but I am sick of racial issues. I have zero sympathy...& pretty much hate all the regular scummy "leaders" in the race grievance industry. If someone...anyone broke the law then book em. Pigment should have no bearing.

[PD]

What that a little visual shout-out to The Prisoner on Fringe tonight?

[Jane]

Again, I ask you, my friends, what impact will this have on the mid terms if true?

None. But hopefully it will have a huge impact on the 2012 election.

[MayBee]

Oh no! Misread. He has resigned from blogging.

[Rob Crawford]

What that a little visual shout-out to The Prisoner on Fringe tonight?

Is that show worth the time?

[Clarice]

Jane, I think it cannot help a lot of Dem candidates who are closely associated with Obama. Really. I suspect this is a killer issue, but that's just my guess. Wait till they see the quotas built into Obamacare and the Financial "Reform" legislation.

__NPR says the independents are breaking for the Republicans:

Anti-Obama sentiment has helped shift independent voters towards Republicans and away from the Democrats who control Congress.

The fight between Democrats and Republicans to control Congress and the White House at this point in the 21st Century comes down to winning over enough independent voters.

And Thursday there was sobering news for Democrats on that front. Republicans appear to be winning that contest at the moment, according to a new survey of independent voters by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center discussed the poll's findings with All Things Considered co-host Robert Siegel. Again, there wasn't much positive data to cheer up Democrats.

The "let's throw the bums out" pattern which independents have settled into in recent election cycles looks likely to be reinforced in the upcoming mid-term elections, unless Democrats can significantly increase the energy level of their voters and their turnout.

Pew surveyed 2,800 registered voters, 37 percent of whom were independents.

KOHUT: The number of independents in the countries is at one of the high points in the last 20 years. Only 34 percent were independent in 2008. it's a growing category of people who aren't comfortable with either party.

ROBERT: But it seems like they're especially uncomfortable with the Democrats this year.

KOHUT: They are uncomfortable with the Democrats because they represent the party in power. And they say they are going to vote for Republican candidates by a 13 point margin, 49 (percent) to 36 (percent.)

But in the two previous elections they voted Democratic, voting against the party of power, 52 (percent) to 44 (percent) in 2008 and (in 2006)Â voting for the Democrats rather than the Republicans who controlled the House, 57 (percent) to 39 (percent).

... They've been untethered lately. The most we can say about them consistently is they haven't been pleased and they are certainly not pleased in 2010.

Much of what's dragging down congressional Democrats is unhappiness with the man in the White House, President Barack Obama, according to Kohut. Since he's not up for re-election, independents indicate they intend to take out their frustrations on Democrats, which underscores why many Democratic candidates would prefer not to campaign with him.

KOHUT: Among independents, only 40 percent approve of President Barack Obama. And what we see is a significant number of independents — 29 percent — saying they will be casting a vote against President Obama when they vote for congressional representatives in November.

That's almost as many who said that about George Bush four years ago when he was so unpopular and that unpopularity led to Republicans losing control of the House.

Unlike Bush, who faced opposition because of the Iraq War and the controversial methods his administration used to combat terrorism — Guantanamo, secret renditions etc., Obama's problems stem mainly from the economy.

ROBERT: Do the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan play any significant role in forming people's opinions?

Foreign policy and social issues are pretty low on the public's agenda. This is about the economy and national conditions.

You know we have in this poll 50 percent of the independts we poll saying that someone in their household was either unemployed or looking for job in the last 12 months. That's a pretty powerful number.

While the Tea Party movement is by various measures growing in power, it doesn't necessarily hold sway over many independents, according to Kohut.

KOHUT: They're divided on the Tea Party. Almost as many say they agree with them — Â 32 percent — as say they disagree with them except among the independents who are disposed to the Republicans... For many independents, the Tea Party just doesn't measure up.

Pew picked up a tendency towards increasing conservatism and a desire for smaller government within the population of independents as well.

For many of these voters, it seems the health-care overhaul legislation may have pushed them over the edge, he said.

In four years, the percentage of independents who call themselves conservative grew to 36 percent from 29 percent. Kohut indicated that was a significant increase.

KOHUT: Independents lean against health care by a small margin. But health-care reform for many of the independents who are conservative, raised the profile of large government... So it is a very significant player both with regard to views about health-care reform specifically and how it changed in one year, Barack Obama's first year, the disposition to see an activist government take on the nation's problems.

[Rick Ballard]

There's just no way to script this as opera seria - it's all opera buffa from the "never let a crisis go to waste" and Nobel straight through "this time they've got me".

I suggest The Princess Bride of Young Frankenstein as the working title.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Clarice-

This is echoed at the lead story at Memeorandom, link courtesy of The Jawa Report. Axelrod disses lib bloggers.

[daddy]

Alaska Election update:

Local news KBYR AM 700 in Anchorage:

On the half hour and top of the hour news briefs today, when referring to Republican Primary Winner and Senate Candidate Joe Miller they have been calling him in news reports "the upstart Joe Miller." On the other hand, when referring to Lisa, it's "Senator Lisa Murcowski."

Am sure it's merely an oversight, nothing intentional.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rick-

Wallace Shawn in the poison scene.

"Never fight a ground battle in Asia. Aaaah. Thud."

Heh.

[MarkO]

Vizzini: I've hired you to help me start a war. It's an prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition.

[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up]
Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Dave (in MA)]

Completely OT... Anyone a fan of Calvin & Hobbes?

I ran across a page of Bill Watterson's pre-C&H comics back when he was in college. http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cimages/cpolitical04.jpg>http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cimages/cpolitical04.jpg This one shows the giant Ted Kennedy having been slain by tiny Jimmeh, completely unaware that he's about to get destroyed by Reagan.

The rest of the archive is here: http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cbillart.html>http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cbillart.html

[Melinda Romanoff]

Mark O-

I see. Another rival for Buttercup. This will not end well.

[Rob Reiner with smarter politics than age has dealt him. Beautiful movie, for all ages. Pity.]

[PD]

Is that show worth the time?

I watched the first few episodes of the first season and could not get interested in it at all. Stopped watching. Tried it again about halfway through last season (2nd season) and found it much more interesting.

JJ Abrams is behind the new series UnderCovers, but if last night's premiere is any indication, it's got nothing going for it.

Maybe I'll watch another episode next season, if it lasts. :-)

[Rob Crawford]

WTF? Watterson was an editorial cartoonist in Cincy?

I kinda remember the one about the Corps of Engineers -- unless there was a very similar Borgman cartoon on the same subject, from the same time. I know there was a cartoon that had the city flooded and a joke about the Engineers getting something wrong hanging up in the strippin' room. And the one with the statues off the Fountain and in its water appears to have a proto Calvin in it.

[MarkO]

Melinda, I loved the movie. The movie was based on a novel by William Goldman, he of Butch Cassidy and other great yarns. It would be hard to ruin it. Witty, engaging. Maybe I’ll put in on.

[daddy]

" Close your eyes and try to imagine the people who decide what will and will not be included in those 22 minutes. Think of their upbringing, their education, their instincts, their life experiences, their social and professional acquaintances, What sort of content would you expect to see?"

Somewhat related.

Today I had to attend a 5 hour mandated company lecture (probably FAA required but possibly ordered by the company to fill some mandated block they have to abide by). It was some new wonky slide show presentation on how to improve piloting skills, obviously created by folks who aren't pilots. Sat at a desk staring at slideshows of touchy feely psycho-babble Venn diagrams, with sort of colorfully labeled Maslo hierarchy pyramids, and then longwinded discussions on how to incorporate these wonderful new theoretical techniques in running cockpits, crews, checklists etc. Felt exactly as if I was trapped in a room with this guy, ">http://www.danieldavidallen.com/ned-ryerson-bing.jpg"> Ned Ryerson. Bing!

Have not had to sit through a more useless, irrelevant, clueless and demeaning presentation since when we had to play racist roles in mandated Navy Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment lectures.
Struck me as the most perfect example I could imagine of that old maxim "Those who can do, do, and those who can't, teach."

Whoever mandated this, I hate his guts, and I can't imagine it could have been willingly mandated by anybody who has a single frickin' clue what the heck this business is all about.

The only reason I can think of that we have let this country be taken over by longwinded, unqualified, self-important windbag morons lacking a lick of common sense, is that the doer's amongst us have simply hated the idea of giving up doing stuff in order to go to DC to engage in that windbaggery circle jerk.

Man. That was excruciating.

[Army of Davids]

Know your Smoot Hawley history and watch economic incompetence in congress on protectionist rhetoric (China)

Also watch Fannie/Freddie legislation....Brad Sherman (D) CA.

[scott]

I've been looking for a report on the Coates testimony throughout the day. I realized about 30 seconds ago that today is Thursday. Boy, this back to school stuff's wearing me out.

[MarkO]

daddy, be thankful you don't have to do continuing legal education presented by those who have no clue.

[Melinda Romanoff]

AoD-

They're pushing on the string the wrong way.

Yes.

Both parties.

I'd watch the impending treaty crisis that Hill's going to have to play with when the Sino-Japanese crisis begins to boil.

Here we go again.

[Rick Ballard]

Mel,

The Blue Dogs (they're the ones with the bayonet holes) have torn up Axelrod's "plan" on partial extension of the tax cuts and thrown it in the President's face. The confrontation with the blogger provides the context for the disappearance of a great deal of the Dem edge in the 18-29 'sucker' cohort. (Target audience for "watch us stick it to the rich".) They just ain't gonna show up. The Pew study is actually understating the Dem problem. As dark as they paint it, it's still considerably brighter than reality.

[Clarice]

I apologize for posting so much of the PEW study ..I hadn't realized how much of it had been copied and pasted until it was too late to cut it.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
I apologize for posting so much of the PEW study ..I hadn't realized how much of it had been copied and pasted until it was too late to cut it.

Heh. You had to know this was coming...

WORD COUNT UPDATE as of 10:00PM

TM: 357
Clarice: 889
All Others: 1,029

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rick-

I've always viewed the "Blue Dogs" as the Dem's equivalent of RINOs. Only in it for their own skin.

But that's just me.

And, with that, I fade.

G'night all.

[Porchlight]

scott,

It's been that kind of week for me too. I can only hope that by this time tomorrow the news of the Coates testimony will be impossible not to find.

[hit and run]

Speaking of long copy and pastes -- I promised not to foul up the last thread and would never dream of doing so on the latest thread either -- so my big finale on the sylvia episode is back on the Feeling Stronger Every Day thread.

Ah, memory lane...

[PD]

I've been reading Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics for fun. Man. Though it was written before Obama took office, it could easily be subtitled, "The Economic Fallacies Believed by Members of the Obama Administration, and Why They are Fools to Believe Them."

[hit and run]

It's 1,540 words!

[Rob Crawford]

daddy -- I skipped today's "training" at work. It was the third session about potential security flaws in web applications in the last three years.

The problem is:

o Only one in every twenty or so of our applications is publicly accessible. If a hacker has access to get to our applications, they have access to the point-of-sale systems in 3,000+ stores. Which is the juicier target?

o The flaws we're warned about are often simply impossible to commit with the tools we use.

o The material all comes from a vendor trying to sell us software that looks specifically for those flaws.

o It's the same presentation every time.

A couple of months ago we had a session about a piece of diagnostic software we started using six years ago.

We don't have regulatory requirements for continuing education, but the company likes to see us continuing our education. Well, they say that, but they cut the tuition reimbursement for salaried staff in half last year.

[PD]

so my big finale on the sylvia episode is back on the Feeling Stronger Every Day thread.

hit, I see that she threatened you with pistolas. Stay safe.

[PD]

hit, how's your self-esteem? It might take a toll to have sylvia constantly telling you that you're a psycho.

[Army of Davids]

Mel,

economic incompetents who know not what they do.

We should learn from Smoot Hawley. We should learn from Ricardo and Comparative Advantage. We should learn from the last time the RMB appreciated 20% and we had a commodity spike stateside.

But we are not. I don't blame the WH economists. I blame stupid politicians and the steelworker's union.

[Rob Crawford]

AoD -- I'm afraid we're at the point we could stand to learn from Hernando de Soto.

No, not the one dropped into the Mississippi, the economist one.

[hit and run]

PD:
It might take a toll to have sylvia constantly telling you that you're a psycho.

It's no different than bubu calling me a racist.

[Clarice]

And to think a racist stalker was once my favorite!

Niters/

[cathyf]

I skipped today's "training" at work. It was the third session about potential security flaws in web applications in the last three years.

My brother's company went through year after year of mandated "security audits" that consisted of consulting firms coming in and doing literary criticism on their manuals. They always got everything that needed checked off checked off.

Then one year the management decided to hire a "tiger team" to break into their systems.

They got in to the (microsoft server) web server and got admin privileges in about four hours.

From there, they copied over the encrypted password file on the (unix) servers, spent 24 hours running "crack" and solved for all of the users' passwords.

According to my brother, down the hall from the conference room where the team was ensconced, the most humiliating part was that there wasn't a person on the team who looked a day over 12!

[daddy]

Good story Cathyf.

And Rob C,

Glad to know I'm not the only one who despises these things. I really do hope we are doing these things as cosmetic stuff to point to in order to reduce our Insurance rates, as opposed to complying with some Govt bureaucrat's mandate.

[Ann]

JMH:

According to Ms Malkin http://twitter.com/cspan/status/25363396833 ">Civil Rights Commission hearing on New Black Panther Party Voter Intimidation Case LIVE at 10am on C-SPAN

Hope someone live blogs it...hint. :)

Hey, and I thought I had a bad week or everyone was acting crazy because of the full moon. Can't wait to see the video of this: Nevada Senate Forum Turns Raucous Ends IN Fist Fight

Dang! Tomorrow should be a lot of fun.

[daddy]

JMH,

Thanks for that link (previous thread) to Demint's anger at Lisa's keeping her Committee seat. I was in class today and missed so much, and only just now finished this thread.

The Local News at the half hour and hour on Talk Radio today were calling Joe Miller "the Upstart Joe Miller" while still calling Lisa "Senator Lisa Murcowski". Folks may quibble with my impression, but simple media name-calling stuff like that on News updates seems a simple snide method to belittle Miller and exalt Lisa, and subliminally passes the message that exactly plays into her hands: That he is an upstart with no business going as a rookie to Washington when Lisa is the experienced respect-worthy Senior Senator who deserves our re-election votes.

I wish I felt like Jane that this was a done deal but I don't. Today's stories on the news, after the belittling mentioned above, were ADN pieces about Lisa trying to get the Senate to name a mountain for Ted Stevens, who she said last week would have endorsed her if he was still alive. Then a headline story about how she is standing up for some citizen roughed up by mean Park Rangers in some Alaska park. Obviously this is simply naked grandstanding for positive press, but The ADN and the networks are happily giving her that positive press.

On the other side, it's stories that Joe Miller (first lied) , now didn't lie about taking Farm Subsidies, but that he didn't immediately tell us all about his farm subsidies in Kansas, therefore he was deceptive and shady and untrustworthy and etc, etc etc.

Plus Lisa can now say that the Senate Repub's don't trust or want Miller in DC, because if they had, they would have stripped her of her seat. Instead they obviously want her, so send her back. She'll let her spokespeople make those points, but it will be made a thousand times up here, and sadly it has the veneer of truth.

So all that said, I'm back on pins and needles about this election. I think it is far from a done deal.

Lastly FWIW, our Republican Governor, Sean Parnell, is running a horrible campaign. It's his campaign to lose. Just like Lisa did, he is refusing to do or say anything and just coasting along on his Laurels, while his Dem challenger Berkowitz is running a heck of a fine campaign, and with the help of the ADN etc, is energizing the left base up here. Parnell is still refusing to appear on the Talk Shows, and simply having folks issue bland Press releases, whereas Berkowitz will go on any show at any time and gain credibility just by not being a coward. I'm interested in seeing how much Berkowitz has closed the gap in the next round of poles, and if its a healthy gain, then I think that bleeds over into energizing lefties to get out and vote against Joe Miller. It's worth noting that when Lisa speaks of the Dem Candidate McAdam's, she simply calls him inexperienced, whereas when she speaks of Miller she calls him an extremist---and I think thats her honest opinion and shows you she's way more a get along go along squishy sort of Democrat than a Conservative.

[daddy]

Now if the Ground Zero guys decided to build their Mosque ">http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/arctic/6929-mosque-completes-journey-to-canadian-arctic"> here I suspect we'd all have no problem with that.

Anyone know if whale blubber is Halal?

[Roman Empire, see ...]

What I find interesting is they actually labeled the Fort Hood incident as a terror attack. Someone didn't get the memo.

[peter]

Daddy, my condolences on your continuing education woes. However, I always found Maslow's hierarchy to be fascinating. I also enjoy reading about Clare Graves' theories that built on Maslow. (LUN)

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Daddy,

Hang tough. WE are about to see a small dip in some races - Patty Murray, Barbara Boxer,etc. There are 39 days left before election day and after the dip we will have a steady climb.

[narciso]

Everything is gagworthy this morning, they won't hold the line on tax cuts, or fund the 9/11 responders, they are putting that stupid
stunt with Colbert, yes that's going to go over like a balloon with lead weights, they haven't quite taken your tack, bgates, against the Pledge, but they're having conniption fitsall the same, and the Clean Toga crowd in the Senate, are up to their old antics. Oh and Mrs. Shourd, has learned nothing fromher experience in Evin prison, and still wants to talk to Ahmadinejad

[peter]

Ayers in the news. Think anyone in the mainstream press will ask Zero about this? LUN

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Peter,

My guess is he intervenes quietly to rectify the situation. He wouldn't want Ayers running his mouth off.

[Janet]

Peter, Looking through the comments at that article, one of the posters links to Am. Thinker & a Jack Cashill article...love seeing that information spreading.

[Captain Hate]

UIC School of Education Dean Vicki Chou did not return a call from the Tribune. She told the Tribune last month that Ayers has "been really a very good colleague here" and "the good far outweighs any negative press."

This skeezer needs to be hammered to define "the good". How many schools have improved because of Billy Bombthrower? We know how the Annenberg Challenge worked out; what else is there? C'mon MFM; do your fucking job.

[Clarice]

Notice, it is only an honorific title he's being denied and only because a Kennedy objected to his dedication to Sirhan Sirhan in his book.

[Pofarmer]

So, is every conservative who doesn't agree with the leaderships default positions an extremist? Well we don't fight back now, when?

[Captain Hate]

Yeah Clarice; I'm glad to finally be in a position in which I can praise a Kennedy (other than having been at the same table with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend at my second cousin's wedding reception where, her dimwit politics aside, she was very pleasant and friendly) although objecting to somebody who dedicated one of his unreadable books to the murderer of one's father isn't holding one to a very high standard.

[Janet]

I guess dedicating a book to Sirhan Sirhan is better than dedicating a book to the devil - "Here is Saul Alinsky’s dedication to his own book: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins — or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer" " from Rules for Radicals

These are the heroes of the left. Helps me to understand the current mocking of the Restoring Honor idea. Faith, Hope, & Charity have no place in a worldview dedicated to Sirhan Sirhan & the devil.

[Mickey M]

NY Post:
"Liberal media outlets are trying to smear the highest-ranking Republican in the House just weeks before the midterm elections with a deal-breaking scandal before he has a chance to take the speaker's chair from Nancy Pelosi.

A blogger from liberal Web site The Daily Kos pierced through Boehner's security detail at yesterday's unveiling of his leadership policy "Pledge to America" to ask if he was sleeping with a lobbyist from the Printing Industries of America.

Lisbeth Lyons denied the accusations. "As you can imagine, I was stunned by such a question," Lyons said. "I found it to be highly insulting, particularly as a female political professional, as well as unfounded. Beyond that, I have no further comment on the matter."

Insiders on Capitol Hill are buzzing about an upcoming New York Times exposé that will detail an alleged Boehner affair. Sources say the Times is looking for the right time to drop the story in October to sway the election, similar to how the Times reported during the 2008 presidential campaign on an alleged John McCain affair that supposedly had taken place many years before and that was flatly denied by the woman in question.

A rep for Boehner's office said, "This is bull[bleep]. The American people oppose Washington Democrats' job killing, so their desperate liberal allies are resorting to outright lies. It's low, and it's dirty.""

LUN

[hit and run]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092204665.html>Axelrod gives the marching orders

Expect to hear a lot more about "stealth campaign being mounted by powerful corporate special interests" and "industry-fueled front groups" and "billionaire oilmen secretly underwriting what the public has been told is a grass-roots movement for change in Washington" and "ominous special-interest hijacking of our elections".

And just to eliminate any ambiguity as to who he expects to do what: "There is still time for the media to shine a light on these front groups."

[Extraneus]

This kind if sliming might work well in good times, but people sitting on underwater mortgages and/or who are unemployed and/or looking at their health insurance being forcibly changed while Nancy Pelosi commutes in style on chartered military jets are unlikely to fall for it. Besides, hardly anybody knows who Boehner is yet. They'd be better off accusing him of witchcraft.

[Captain Hate]

Anybody gonna liveblog the Steadman Shabazz Holder smackdown today?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

I'm tempted but I really need to do some work

[hit and run]

Extraneus:
Besides, hardly anybody knows who Boehner is yet.

And while a good old fashioned "congressman is dirty" story can help turn an election,there's a big difference between say Foley in 2006,when the Democrats had prepped the field with "Culture of Corruption for months and months and now -- when the Democrats have been displaying their very own Culture of Corruption since 2006.

Listen,Nancy Pelosi is going to partially fulfill her promise to "drain the swamp". It'll just be at the ballot and include a lot more Democrats than she realized when she first made that promise.

[Janet]

From Hit's link - "These floodgates were opened by a January Supreme Court ruling that upset long-standing precedent by giving U.S. corporations an unfettered right to spend and influence our elections."

The whole meme that corporations, businesses, even business interest lobbies are evil really is sickening. It seems like the only accepted "interest groups" that are allowed to influence Congress are utopian dreamers and academics. So what if businesses put in their 2 cents to influence Congress...better them than another Harvard academic.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

BTW I heard this morning that a guy named Weaver (?) who was one of the guys running McCain's campaign was running Tim Cahill's campaign for MA Gov.

Cahill is a dem turned independent and the potential spoiler to getting rid of the most unpopular governor in the country, Deval patrick.

Anyway, Weaver quit saying Cahill can't win and he should step aside so Baker can.

[Rob Crawford]

Sources say the Times is looking for the right time to drop the story in October to sway the election, similar to how the Times reported during the 2008 presidential campaign on an alleged John McCain affair that supposedly had taken place many years before and that was flatly denied by the woman in question.

Ladies and gentlemen -- the professional press! Carefully considering the timing to print lies in order to sway a political campaign!

I think we can all understand tarring and feathering a bit better, now.

[Cecil Turner]

. . . to ask if he was sleeping with a lobbyist from the Printing Industries of America.

That's the best they can come up with? That's their "October surprise"? Reminds me of My Cousin Vinny:

I'm sorry I was all the way over here I couldn't hear you. Did you say you were a fast cook, that's it?

I bet most folks couldn't give a rat's rear-end if it were true, but the Kosmonuts think the mere accusation will win it for 'em?

I'm with Extraneus . . . they'd be better off trying to hang a fake nose on him.

[hit and run]

Jane:
a guy named Weaver (?) who was one of the guys running McCain's campaign was running Tim Cahill's campaign for MA Gov.

John Weaver left McCain in 2007 -- back when it was nearly broke and everyone,and I mean everyone outside of campaign staffers and family,had written him off for dead dead dead.

Whatever that's worth -- but Weaver was part of the death march,was not part of the resurrection,and was not part of what Captain Hate undoubtedly considers the best campaign evah! (if you want your campaign to suck) against Obama in 2008.

I will count on narciso to fill in any gaps or correct any misrememberances on my part.

Oh,and since I cheated and googled ... Weaver's name did come up in the brouhahahahahaahaahaa around McCain and Vicky Iseman the NYT dropped into the 2008 campaign...

[Captain Hate]

Am I the only person that wants Warren Buffett to permanently STFU?

[narciso]

You're right on the mark, hit, he's also been pushing some of these vanity candidates, in the LUN. He seems lower than Schmidt if that were humanly possible

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

As soon as someone finds out where the hearing is broadcast let me know. I am forced to listen to Harry Reid in anticipation and it is not pretty.

[Captain Hate]

what Captain Hate undoubtedly considers the best campaign evah!

Don't get me started; after yesterday's return of the prodigal zen-master I'm determined to make today a "happy day".

[Rob Crawford]

The whole meme that corporations, businesses, even business interest lobbies are evil really is sickening.

It's shockingly common, though, and oddly specific. I've been told that the average middle manager would as soon see hundreds of people dead than a drop in his profit sharing. Which is so disconnected from reality, I can only guess that opinion is "informed" by fiction.

It's also curious that the people who are so distrustful of corporations and the like are so absolutely trusting of government and non-profits. Sorry, but it's the people who truly believe that what they're doing is for my own good that worry me. For one, how do they know?!

[Rob Crawford]

As soon as someone finds out where the hearing is broadcast let me know. I am forced to listen to Harry Reid in anticipation and it is not pretty.

I think I saw on my newsfeed that PJTV is carrying it.

Network guys at the office block everything video related, so I can't check it out myself.

[hit and run]

Janet:
The whole meme that corporations, businesses, even business interest lobbies are evil really is sickening.

Kimberly Strassel at WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703384204575510010576057080.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop>says it's backfiring...

Something significant is happening on the electoral battlefield, and it has an "Inc." by its name. Many candidates running as Republicans could as easily be sitting for a business profile. Twenty months of Democratic business-bashing has not turned the electorate against entrepreneurs. Quite the opposite. This election is highlighting a political turn, not unlike that of the late 1970s, in which voters are looking to free-market, pro-growth candidates to turn back government.

It gets better from there!

[JM Hanes]

Huh. Apparently Coates actually testified at 9:00 and the hearing is simply being broadcast at 10:00 -- so as not to interfere with Wash. Journal, one supposes!

Here's a link to the full transcipt, via Instapundit.

[Old Lurker]

Good WSJ story today about the shock some health insurers have when seeing the proposed regs on how much of their premium income must be paid out in claims and precisely how the math will work. Where have these guys been for heaven's sake? They said they were going to kill these companies and these regs will make short work of them all.

[Captain Hate]

He seems lower than Schmidt if that were humanly possible

Ugh, narc; I would've thought that impossible but even a loser like Ben Smith makes a convincing case.

Bill Kristol on Laura Ingraham ridiculing Paulie Krugnuts for quoting his father in his otherwise useless column as a further illustration that he's lost what little mind he previously possessed.

[JM Hanes]

Wrong! Actual Commission Hearing now underway (see PJM TV!

Sorry, it looks like the PDF of Coates "testimony" is just his prepared statement. I assume he will read it at the hearing, and that questions from the Commission will follow.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

I cannot for the life of me open a PDF - so what does the opening statement say?

[Pagar]

I'm not sure why some one hasn't posted this but Pajamas Media has this Christopher Coates Testimony.

It looks pretty damming from my first read.

http://pajamasmedia.com/files/2010/09/christopher_coates_testimony_9-24-10.pdf

[Dave (in MA)]

Rob, PJTV has the http://pajamasmedia.com/files/2010/09/christopher_coates_testimony_9-24-10.pdf>transcript (pdf, 19 pages).

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

It's on C-span now.

[DebinNC]

Ocates is on CSPAN 1 now, or watch online here.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Doesn't the Messiah get to replace most of the Civil right commission in January?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Boy he talks fast.

[Extraneus]

Hopefully this is just a taste of what some congressional hearings will be like next year.

[Ranger]

Well, now I am really unhappy about the upcoming TV season. I don't watch much TV, but one of the few shows I do watch is CSI. I love the characters and the writing. So, what did they go and do this year. For their overarching narative of the season, they have set a bomb planting far right political group as the nemisis. I'll still watch, but I hate how these asshats take a gem of a show, and try turn it into a political vehicle. It will be interesting to see, with the mood of the country where it is right now, if the show's ratings drop this year.