Saturday Morning

The NY Times commiserates with its readers:

Shifting Reports on Libya Killings May Cost Obama

By MARK LANDLER

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s shifting accounts of the fatal attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, have left President Obama suddenly exposed on national security and foreign policy, a field where he had enjoyed a seemingly unassailable advantage over Mitt Romney in the presidential race.

Hard to imagine - the Admiistration failed to anticipate terrorist attacks on the anniversary of 9/11,then misled the public about their failure, and this is news?

Unfortunately, this is not just partisan hackery the Times can pooh-pooh:

But the questions are likely to come not just from partisan Republicans. The Benghazi attack calls into question the accuracy of intelligence-gathering and whether vulnerable American personnel overseas are receiving adequate protection. Even allies of the president like Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have petitioned the White House for more information about how the government protects diplomatic installations abroad.

But not to worry- the Times won't be trying too hard to knock down Team Obama's spin. For example, here is this howler, reported without rebuttal:

White House officials dispute that the press secretary, Jay Carney, cited the anti-Muhammad video as the cause of the attack in Benghazi.

If the Times had a subscription to "WhiteHouse.gov" they would be able to find the transcript of this Sept 14 press briefing by Mr. Carney:

MR. CARNEY:  In terms of the security at the Benghazi facility or post, I would have to refer you to the State Department for specifics about what security was there.  There was a security presence.  It was unfortunately not enough to resist the attacks that we saw and resulted in the tragic loss of life.  But there was security.

It is also the case that in reaction to this the President has ordered that we review all of our security arrangements for embassy facilities and other diplomatic facilities around the world.  But in terms of the specific security that was in place at Benghazi, I’d have to refer you to the State Department.

Q    Wouldn’t it seem logical that the anniversary of 9/11 would be a time that you would want to have extra security around diplomats and military posts?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, as you know, we are very vigilant around anniversaries like 9/11.  The President is always briefed and brought up to speed on all the precautions being taken.  But let’s be --

Q    But saying you’re very vigilant and being very vigilant are different things.

MR. CARNEY:  Jake, let’s be clear, these protests were in reaction to a video that had spread to the region --

Q    At Benghazi?  What happened at Benghazi --

MR. CARNEY:  We certainly don't know.  We don't know otherwise.  We have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack.  The unrest we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims find offensive.  And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of, or to U.S. policy.

Q    But the group around the Benghazi post was well armed.  It was a well-coordinated attack.  Do you think it was a spontaneous protest against a movie?

MR. CARNEY:  Look, this is obviously under investigation, and I don’t have –

Q    But your operating assumption is that that was in response to the video, in Benghazi?  I just want to clear that up.  That’s the framework?  That’s the operating assumption? 

MR. CARNEY:  Look, it’s not an assumption --

Q    Because there are administration officials who don’t -- who dispute that, who say that it looks like this was something other than a protest.

MR. CARNEY:  I think there has been news reports on this, Jake, even in the press, which some of it has been speculative.  What I’m telling you is this is under investigation.  The unrest around the region has been in response to this video.  We do not, at this moment, have information to suggest or to tell you that would indicate that any of this unrest was preplanned. 

What is true about Libya is that -- well, a couple of things.  One, is it’s one of the more pro-American countries in the region.  Two, it is a very new government; it is a country that has just come out of a revolution and a lot of turmoil, and there are certainly a lot of armed groups.  So the fact that there are weapons in the region and the new government is not -- is still building up its capacities in terms of security and its ability to ensure the security of facilities, is not necessarily reflective of anything except for the remarkable transformation that’s been going on in the region.

Well, Mr. Carney stuck to the line that it is under investigation, but to claim that he did not cite the movie as a possible cause is a long stretch. But not too long for the Times to ignore it.

 

 

Comments

[narciso]

Well I'm getting a certain vibe;

http://www.steinerstrategy.com/wordpress/news/

[Danube of Thought]

"Are these just the Duke and Duke farm team"

Maybe they're just saying what they believe to be true.

[Ralph L]

schoolkids in Colorado are being told what they can and cannot eat by Michelle Obama
Federal money, federal control. The state governments are hooked on it. They take the money and pass the blame to Washington.

I got 96% and 8 miles. First put Iowa 30 miles to the west, then thought the Miss. River was on its west border, so I really screwed up Missouri. Fuck Iowa and its ethanol subsidy, which pushed another corn mill (Allen's) near me into Chap. 11, possibly 7, this week. We're still out $10k from Townsend for 2 loads of corn from two years ago. Several of our customers lost more than that.

[narciso]

They take the inflated +D polls at face value, they do not take talk up Kasich's efforts in resuscitating the state's economy, that's why I
categorize them that way.

We go to war with the nominee we have, not the one we wish , isn't that the deal

[Jim Eagle]

W is at Medinah welcoming our team to the first tee while the Golfer in Chief is still trying to find Libya on a map.

[narciso]

Of course, this is the same Walter Shapiro, who was so bummed out, during the conventions, because
the people weren't listening to the media, so I take what words he puts in people's mouth's with
a dollup of salt,

[Frau Zauberlehrling]

I read that the FBI is in Tripoli "investigating" what happened in Benghazi which protects them "to some degree."*
British journalists have noted that important U.S. agents were whisked away from Libya and sprinkled around Europe which will add another layer of difficulty impossibility for the FBI (in peace and war).

*Trademark: The Preezy

[Jim Eagle]

DoT,

I doubt it. There is a concentrated disinformation campaign being waged in Ohio where incidentally, the RNC has a very strong ground game of close to 80k volunteers. This standard pinhead troika tactics - negative polling with press followup, phony conservative phone callers going pessimistic and then there is state GOP which is totally loyalty corrupt and disorganized.

[pagar]

Wild Bill for America videos may make your day a little better.

http://hillbuzz.org/lefty-smackdown-57182

Enjoy!

[sbw]

Average error 5 miles. Luck of the draw. Didn’t have to start with Kansas or Utah.

[Danube of Thought]

"They take the inflated +D polls at face value, they do not talk up Kasich's efforts in resuscitating the state's economy, that's why I
categorize them that way."

That makes them fools. But there are plenty of GOP fools who aren't Duke & Duke.

[Danube of Thought]

On the iPad I can't open this state game. However, since I always did well in geography I'm going to say 100% and zero miles.

[narciso]

I fail to see the difference, what use is it to acknowledge the meme, when the other side doesn't even acknowledge the truth.

[narciso]

Ok, the temper tantrum has gone on long enough;

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57522102/kit-bond-to-endorse-akin-priebus-hints-at-rnc-support/

[Jim Eagle]

Peter King doubles down on The Admin, calls for Susan Rice to resign.

Says its all about electioneering and not national security.

Another telltale will be during tomorrow's News panel shows. Just how tough and inquisitive do they want to go without upsetting the apple cart??

[Jim Eagle]

Well, I can tell you that NBC is not making any friends today. They are heavy a steady stream of technical problems during the broadcast of the Ryder Cup. Twitter is a tweet over this and lots of beer bottles are being broken and plasma screens cracked.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Question I'm not sure I know the answer to.
Why does a possibly accurate but politically non expedient quote by Akin cause a gigantic uproar even among Republicans and many pixels of denunciations and disclaimers, but the absolute disloyalty and childish pick-up-my-marbles-and-go-home treachery of that slime-ball Dicky Lugar barely merit a mention, relatively speaking?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--However, since I always did well in geography I'm going to say 100% and zero miles.

Posted by: Danube of Thought | September 29, 2012 at 01:44 PM--

Dammit. Why didn't I think of that before I donned the dunce cap?

[narciso]

Look irradiated Giant squirrel;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/09/how-not-to-raise-legal-ethics-issues-as-to-a-candidate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Walter Shapiro again demonstrates why he should be digging ditches rather than writing with a little ditty entitled "goodbye--columbus--why-top-ohio-republicans-think-romney-has-lost-the-state".
If you actually read it the only "people" "thinking" this are unnamed, although I suspect all of their initials are WS, and none of them are quoted, whereas the top Republicans he does mention by name are optimistic Romney will win Ohio.
Wonder what his DNC stipend is.

[Jim Eagle]

You got to love this one:

Penn State LB intercepts Illini pass on the goal line toward end of 1st half and runs 99 yards but fails to score since he jogged the last 4 yards and gets caught from behind. Then Penn State tries FG but it gets blocked:)

Video and story here:)

[Janet]

Thinkin' about the now famous video...
It's production quality was crap but it's content was true vs the Hollywood left...
their production quality is top notch but the content is lies.

[Janet]

I love this from Extraneus -

"Unfortunately, the future doesn't belong to those who would slander the Prophet. Or, maybe it does and Obama's full of shit."

[Captain Hate]

Are these just the Duke and Duke farm team

First of all, that was a Yahoo report so caveat emptor. Second, Duke and Duke maintains at least 2 farm teams in Ohio; how do you think Voinovich lasted so long? When they feud it makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look like Oxford versus Cambridge. Finally, you didn't think Kevin DeWine was by himself, did you?

[matt]

Penn State shall have seven lean years now, methinks.....

Reading the WaPoop this morning, I came across the ombudsman's article criticizing the paper for its Leftist bias.LUN

[me.yahoo.com/a/ncRn8_Jniu.j5KYsqKXHML3Hfkt9VoU-]

What happened in Lybia won't impact the elections one iota. None.

Republicans and Fox News rambling about this issue is doing nothing for Romney. When Romney stops the focus on jobs and the economy he loses.

Idiot neocon advisors think that topic has any hold on the average voter. Most voters do not even know this happened.

[Captain Hate]

What country is Lybia? Is that where all the lezzos live?

[Janet]

INteresting post at DiploMad.

"The facility in Benghazi was not a regular consulate despite what the press has been saying. It is not clear what exactly that facility was--it does not appear on the Embassy Tripoli website or in the State Department's list of consulates--but appears to have been operated on the bureaucratic sly to enable it to avoid expensive and time-consuming security requirements."

[narciso]

As I pointed out, in subsequent links, Steiner, was previously the lobbyist for Ahia State, and at one time, worked for Voinovich, Latourette and
Tiberi, at least two of those, are paid up members of Duke and Duke,

[Danube of Thought]

"When Romney stops the focus on jobs and the economy he loses."

Let's call that "Recrimination A."

Recrimination B will be "it's all Duke & Duke's fault for nominating him."

Recrimination C will be "it's the MFM's fault."

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I find myself agreeing with the loon at 3:05PM.
Troubling.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Let's call that "Recrimination A.--

Dot,
Does that indicate you have abandoned the certitude of a Romney victory for the certitude of an Obama one or are they just predicted provisional recriminations?

[narciso]

Look at the sleazeball Rivera, 'tied' up with the fetching Mrs. Alliegro, well the party has mostly
stuck up for him, down here, even his finances are dodgier than the croupier in Montenegro, and he pulled a little false flag operation in the Democratic primaries.

[narciso]

The details from some days ago, were too good to check;

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Pretty sad when we have to rely on Univision to give us part of the truth of Fast & Furious, including the murders of 16 Mexican youth at a party.

Pat Cadell is right; the media are not simply the handmaidens of the left and government. They are the enemies of the American people.

[Melinda Romanoff]

96%, 11 miles, and 375 seconds. Major flub on Idaho learning the click sensitivity, then backed it up with a bad Mizzou plant.

[Rick Ballard]

112%, -8 miles (adjusted for 2008 exit polling).

[Jim Eagle]

Janet,

No doubt it was a "hunting lodge" housing the MANPAD trackers, the CIA and NSA guys tracking down the insurgents and AQIM militias as well as other nefarious Islamists trying to destabilize Libya via partition. I think it was the 3 day warning, Turkish HUMINT and the quiet security issues that brought Stevens there. He may have been ready to shut it down as well as the safe house and the farm. The bad guys waited until he got there then let loose the hounds of war.

If we had a true press loyal to the people instead of some charlatan this would the Ones undoing in the same way Tehran Hostages were Carters.

[hit and run]

Rick:
112%, -8 miles (adjusted for 2008 exit polling).

HAH!!!

[pagar]

"Who are the real fanatics that are trying to destroy America, the Muslim’s or the Democrats?"

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2012/09/29/what-is-the-tax-on-american-families-of-aid-to-jihadi-nations/

[hit and run]

Yike. Car Czar Steve Rattner says, yeah, we need death panels.

Medicare needs to take a cue from Willie Sutton, who reportedly said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was. The big money in Medicare is not to be found in Mr. Ryan’s competition or Mr. Obama’s innovation, but in reducing the cost of treating people in the last year of life, which consumes more than a quarter of the program’s budget.

"Save Cash From Not Treating Clunkers"

[matt]

tomorrow evening at 7:00pm, Univision's "Aqui y Ahorra" or Here & Noew, will be broadcasting an expose' on the carnage caused in Mexico by Fast & Furious.

It shows the massacres and murders and the families of the dead beseeching Mexican President Calderon'. The ad was very powerful. LUN.

[matt]

Speaking of propaganda, my latest on the Media's propaganda machine. LUN.

[narciso]

Once upon a time, the New Republic had some value, but it's been taken over by the Children of the Corn;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/18/us-usa-court-scalia-idUSBRE88H06X20120918

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--

96%, 11 miles, and 375 seconds. Major flub on Idaho learning the click sensitivity, then backed it up with a bad Mizzou plant.

Posted by: Melinda Romanoff | September 29, 2012 at 03:48 PM--

Did it a couple of more times to see how familiarity vs different order of states made a difference.
Went from 94%, 3 mile in 300 seconds to 90%, 12 miles but only 278 seconds.
The last time the order of states in the middle of the country was tougher but once I got a few placed it was much easier to do the rest because of the previous rounds so I was more inaccurate but quicker.
Obviously I need to find something useful to do.

[Jim Eagle]

There are even slugs showing up at the Ryder Cup. Time to extort some guilty white golfers, I guess.

[Jim Eagle]

Coming soon to a gulag near you: Outlawing free speech when the subject is Islam.

Moonbat Ban at the U.N.

Is the UN in Ryan's budget cuts? It should be.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

-- The big money in Medicare is not to be found in Mr. Ryan’s competition or Mr. Obama’s innovation, but in reducing the cost of treating people in the last year of life, which consumes more than a quarter of the program’s budget.

"Save Cash From Not Treating Clunkers"--

Think how much money we could save if we took sons of bitches like Mr Rattner out in a field and shot them, obviating any health care expenditures on them at all, and continued to treat people like my wife who wish to be treated, regardless of what some god damned bureaucrat somewhere says.

[Danube of Thought]

Provisional recriminations. But if Mitt loses I will blame no one but the Obama voters.

[Jim Eagle]

Sorry ladies, but I have to post this for DoT, Iggy and few other admirers of beautiful exotic ladies and their derrieres.

I give you Brazil's Bum Bum Contest

[narciso]

Rattner's a garden slug, mind you one that paid 10 million (Dr. Evil pinky extended) to stay out of
jail, so hence he welcomed on Morning Joe,

[Clarice]

I guess if the panels are penurious or biased enough any year of your life could be your last.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

And to complete my thought at 4:30, we don't know when that last year begins for a lot of people until it ends. You can't walk into a chemo room or cardiac ward and determine simply by looking at or even by their charts and condition how long many of those people have.
Who gets to decide when the clock starts ticking?
And for many the removal of care will turn what might have been two or three decent years into six miserable months.
That last year of life might seem like a luxury to assholes like Rattner and Barry but when it's the last one you've got it might mean more than the previous twenty.
Dehumanizing bastards in their brave new world.
But they're the party that cares about people....in approximately the same way Tyson cares about chickens.

[Thomas Collins]

A thread or two ago Rick Ballard referred to Ohio absentee ballot request stats showing a significant percentage increase over 2008 for the GOP in each county, and flatline or decreased percentages for the Dems. So I don't think gloom and doom is justified. However, although Jim Messina is puffing the Dems' advantage over the GOP ground game in the battleground states, he is not Baghdad Bobbing the significant improvement the Dems have made over 2004.

[Janet]

This was linked on FB - More problematic GOP voter forms are found in Florida

They found 100 problematic registrations. "The Florida GOP had contracted out its registration efforts to a newly formed company called Strategic Allied Consulting."

Maybe it would be a great time to push for getting rid of ALL these outfits that take to the street to register people to vote or hand out absentee ballots. IMO people should make the effort to go to the courthouse or the DMV & show ID to register. We could pay for the taxi ride if some people are too poor to take a bus (heck, we pay for drunks on NYE to have free taxi rides). All these sketchy outfits signing people up multiple times. It's no good.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

JiB's Bum Bum link served to remind me of one of the great disappointments in life; a lovely female form disfigured with disgusting tats; one of the worst symptoms of the decline of Western Civ.

[Porchlight]

Doesn't matter, Janet, because voter fraud never happens per Democrats. 100 problematic registrations in all of Florida? There were hundreds of problematic ballots in one precinct in Racine during the Walker recall and no one on my Facebook cared.

Incidentally I've been reading about the administration trying to bully defense companies into not sending out layoff notices for sequestration cuts until after the election.

Question: is this the action of a campaign that is confident it's winning in Virginia?

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

narc--
We go to war with the nominee we have, not the one we wish , isn't that the deal

YES. Precisely.

ABO~OMG.

[caro]

No time to catch up on the threads, but I am saying Hi from Pittsburgh. I am at my 50th high school reunion and observing it as a cultural experience and trying to discover any political leanings. People are playing it pretty close to the vest. Except the overt lefties. They feel free to insult Romney at any time. Maybe after a few drinks tonight.

Will check back in after Pieces in the morning.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

Question I'm not sure I know the answer to.
Why does a possibly accurate but politically non expedient quote by Akin cause a gigantic uproar even among Republicans and many pixels of denunciations and disclaimers, but the absolute disgrace and disloyalty and childish pick-up-my-marbles-and-go-home treachery of that slime-ball Dicky Lugar Obama in the response to the Benghazi attack barely merit a mention, relatively speaking?

Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | September 29, 2012 at 02:06 PM

Similar thought, no less accurate.

[Jim Eagle]

Sandy,

Did you get a Bishop's letter regarding the election in your church bulletin last Sunday? Because we have 2 special constitutional amendments affecting abortion funding and public funding of religious groups (hospitals, orphanages etc.) we got a really strong letter including a Dolanesque articulation on religious freedom. Talking to my pastor yesterday in private (on the golf course:) he told me that the church has turned away from expecting the current Democrats to do anything on religious freedom, abortion funding, school vouchers, etc. and are going more to the right than ever before. He is a young guy and very outspoken on political views that he says have only been shaped in the last 2 years.

[hit and run]

Ig:
And to complete my thought at 4:30, we don't know when that last year begins for a lot of people until it ends.

Indeed. Between your lovely wife and our dearly departed Bad, they have probably accumulated somewhere close to two decades of "last years" between them in Rattner's formulation.

Bad wasn't supposed to make it to 50. She did. Bad wasn't supposed to see her daughter graduate high school. She did. Bad finally succumbed to cancer, but through the wonderful application of medicine and technology, she was given the chance not just to turn 50 and see her daughter graduate, but to touch the lives of those around her in ways that saving money in any amount couldn't match.

A society concerned with cutting costs at the expense of people like Bad and Ignatz's wife in order to pay for the birth control of Sandra Fluke is a very sick society.

[Porchlight]

Hi caro! My 25th h.s. reunion is in CT next month. I'm sad to miss it (knee sprain and parental visit) but I am not sorry to miss the political conversations. October is a tense time.

I hope you have a lovely reunion despite any politically-related annoyances that might arise!

I did have the pleasure at my 20th college reunion of meeting a classmate I didn't previously know and, through various signals, managing to mutually figure out our similar political leanings. We now have a secret conservative alumni group going on Facebook. :) Perhaps something fun like this will happen to you, too.

[Clarice]

Hi, Caro!

[Jim Eagle]

Hit reminds me that my priest/pastor was surprisingly very outspoken about Sandra Fluke and could not believe that the Democrats gave her front and center exposure in their convention. But then they got gored good in Dolan's invocation which to this day was the greatest articulation of religious freedom I have ever heard.

In all my years of catholic education, ministry in my parishes, even altar boy service, I have never heard priests get so political and outspoken. And they can change minds very subtly without ever mentioning current politics.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

Think how much money we could save if we took sons of bitches like Mr Rattner out in a field and shot them, obviating any health care expenditures on them at all, and continued to treat people like my wife who wish to be treated, regardless of what some god damned bureaucrat somewhere says.

Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | September 29, 2012 at 04:30 PM

A clear example of why a Black-White-Gray list is needed stat !

[hit and run]

I really don't do videos. Much less 9+ minute videos. I often hit play and then move on after 30 seconds or so.

But this video had me all the way through. A video from the Republican Jewish Coalition (the link is to the Corner where the video posted).

[Have Blue]

Ignatz and Clarice - My fathers mother had a severe heart attack in the early eighties. The Doctor originally stated she would not live the night. The next morning he said she would not live the week. By the weekend it was up to three weeks. She died at age 94 in '97.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

JiB's Bum Bum link served to remind me of one of the great disappointments in life; a lovely female form disfigured with disgusting tats; one of the worst symptoms of the decline of Western Civ.

Posted by: Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki | September 29, 2012 at 04:47 PM

I've started telling my daughters that they are revolutionary in that they do not follow the typical conventions of piercing ever possible part of their body (lips, tongue, nose, eyebrows, ears (well, ok), belly button, etc) and getting tats everywhere. Doing so is common place any more. A true act of revolution against conventionality is to not/NOT become a breathing pin-cushion or a tat-artist's latest piece of handiwork.

[Extraneus]

Democrats lay out second-term wish list for President Obama

“He's got to continue to concentrate on jobs,” Rep. Bill Pascrell said last week as the House was leaving town for a long, pre-election recess.

“I'm hoping he'll do immigration reform,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).

“We should get back to an energy policy – one that acknowledges that climate change is real,” said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

“The critical issues will be revenue generation … and … a concerted push on immigration reform,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

“I think he'd want his administration to start on healthcare,” said Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.).

“Debt and jobs,” Welch said. “That's the fundamental issue: How are we going to deal with the debt in a way that promotes growth?”

A growing number of Democrats, for instance, see immigration as a top issue in a second Obama term, particularly if Latinos vote overwhelmingly for the president – as current polls predict – and Republicans are pressured to compromise or risk losing those voters in every national election for the foreseeable future.

“If we don't do it next year, 2014 is going to be here, and then 2016 is going to be here,” said Cuellar. “So I think we'll have a window like we had a window in 2009 after his election … and I hope we get to do it.”

“By focusing on energy efficiency, where there's a lot of common ground, [we could] create jobs and it would achieve one-third of the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050,” he said. “That's a big deal.”

Blah, blah, etc.

[Jim Eagle]

Tattoos that one gets early in their adult life are the first thing they regret when they turn 40. [except your service tattoo:].

That Video that Hit posted about Israel and Obama's policy is devastating but IMHO will only turn less than 5% of the Jewish vote even with Barry Rubin saying he won't vote for Obama. Is just too damn entrenched like unions, blacks, trial lawyers and academia.

[Janet]

Thanks for that link, hit.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

Sandy,

Did you get a Bishop's letter regarding the election in your church bulletin last Sunday? Because we have 2 special constitutional amendments affecting abortion funding and public funding of religious groups (hospitals, orphanages etc.) we got a really strong letter including a Dolanesque articulation on religious freedom. Talking to my pastor yesterday in private (on the golf course:) he told me that the church has turned away from expecting the current Democrats to do anything on religious freedom, abortion funding, school vouchers, etc. and are going more to the right than ever before. He is a young guy and very outspoken on political views that he says have only been shaped in the last 2 years.

Posted by: Jack is Back | September 29, 2012 at 05:01 PM

JiB - NO, we have not--yet. Have not seen a "Catholic Virginian" (weekly diocesan newspaper) in a couple weeks, and quite often such letters will either be located there, or at the Richmond Diocese website.

This Diocese is a strange cat. Was for years dominated by the extraordinarily leftist bishop Sullivan, who encouraged acts of peaceful protest, i.e. chaining oneself to the gates of Yorktown Naval Weapons Stations, etc. Another narcissist, if ever and frankly, one who grated greatly. I will speak of him in disparaging words...

The new Bishop, DiLorenzo, has been methodically turning the Diocese toward a less ideological (and even that would be much more conservative than the previous bisphop), but such changes, including retirement & reassignment of entrenched clergy, takes a LOT of time.

Our particular parish has a wonderfully spiritual and great man as pastor, Father Esteben, (Fr Steve) who is a missionary priest here from the Philippines. Father Steve's experience in the P.I. has created within him, I believe, a deliberate manner of not speaking directly to political matters. I think his formative years, working in some of the difficult southern Philippine islands, have created in him an ability to speak on political topics without seemingly doing so. To me it sounds & appears to be a survival skill, developed in the face of the NPA and Abu Sayyaf. Today, with the depredations of this administration coming to the fore, well, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

Well, then there is Timothy Cardinal Dolan who has stepped up in a way very unfamiliar to my Catholic upbringing, as you also intuit, JiB.

[Clarice]

What a great story, Have Blue. We never know when we are meant to be dropped from The Book Of Life and neither do the bureaucrats get a one year flag.

From a guest blogger at Insty:DRAMATICALLY DECLINING DEMOCRATIC VOTER REGISTRATION: Of course you won’t find this widely reported in the mainstream media. Fox News reports that a recent study by a left-leaning think tank, Third Way, shows a precipitous decline in voters registering as Democrat in key swing states. In Ohio, for example, there are 490,000 fewer registered voters than in 2008, 44 percent of whom reside in Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2:1.

Ohio is not alone. . . . Democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbered the Republican decline by a 10-to-one ratio. In Florida, Democratic registration is down 4.9 percent, in Iowa down 9.5 percent. And in New Hampshire, it’s down down 19.7 percent.

Another reason why many recent polls–which oversample Democrats and “weight” results based on 2008 presidential election turnout rates–may indeed be highly misleading.

[cajunkate]

I must comment that I got my first and only tattoo several years ago as a reward for turning 50-its a lovely butterfly on my ankle and I smile everytime I see it.

[hit and run]

I also must comment -- I first pierced my nose at age 19. I have pierced it maybe two dozen times since. I smile every time I do. I've never left the safety pin in longer than two days.

mrs hit and run got her first and only tattoo a couple years ago on the ring finger of her left hand. It's just a band that mimics a ring. If there comes a day that her wedding ring doesn't fit, she wanted to have a permanent mark that our bond was unbreakable.

[hit and run]

Local station has interrupted the Ryder Cup to cover weather south of the viewing area. The local meteorologist won't stop fiddling with the radar talking about carp that isn't affecting her viewing area.

On and on and on and on.........

[Barbara]

I guess if the panels are penurious or biased enough any year of your life could be your last.

Clarice at 4:39pm

If all the [death] panels are as positive and optimistic as the Fox News panel, that would cull the herd pretty quickly.

[hit and run]

Fox (MLB) and NBC (Ryder Cup) are going with local weather coverage. CBS and ABC have not interrupted coverage of their college football games.

I hope Fox and NBC viewers in the path of the storms are helped by this coverage.

But if you're in the path of these storms -- turn off the tv and get in your basement or interior bathroom!!!!

[cajunkate]

Wow, someone must be having a bad day

[Captain Hate]

For the VT fans, why do the Chokies continue to play games at FedEx since they seem to play like garbage there?

Brilliant move by the Baylor head coach: Your team has given up 70 points to the Mountainqueers and instead of doing an onside kick you think "I'll trust my defense to get the ball back". Pure Effing Genius.

[hit and run]

For the last five minutes, local NBC meteorologist has told us how the storm seems to be breaking up . . . she expects the severe warnings to be dropped.

And yet no return to the Ryder Cup.

Local Fox has gone back to baseball.

[Sara]

On the iPad I can't open this state game. However, since I always did well in geography I'm going to say 100% and zero miles.

Have you tried it with iSwifter. iSwifter seems to be the only browser that allows you to play games on the iPad. I use it for all my FB games or anything that requires Flash.

[hit and run]

All is well. Back to golf.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

2016 has been reposted on the web.

According to Dinesh this is liberal hackers who are trying to tamp down ticket sales. So I recommend you go to the theater.

[matt]

what is this confounded state game you speak of???

[hit and run]

Now, because everybody loves quizzes:
Place your states. I got 98% with an average error of 5 miles.

Posted by: bgates | September 29, 2012 at 10:19 AM

[Frau Zauberlehrling]

Hi Caro. Give those lib classmates Hay-ull. If they're still stupid at this point, there's no reason not to confront them with it.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

I went to a fundraiser for my local state rep today (who I love). All my compadres on the on the local republican town committee were there as well as the district head of the republican committee - just back from the convention.

None had heard about the Lizzie Warren law license scandal.

[Captain Hate]

92% 7 miles. I think there's an advantage to the order you get the states.

[Frau Zauberlehrling]

Why does a possibly accurate but politically non expedient quote by Akin cause a gigantic uproar...

Iggy - Instead of "legitimate rape," Akins should have used the accepted Whoopi Golberg term "rape-rape."

[Porchlight]

Definitely. If they start with Colorado or Wyoming it's a little tougher.

[Janet]

None had heard about the Lizzie Warren law license scandal.

Good Lord! I link about it all the time on FB...you'd think I lived in Massachusetts the way I posted about Bielat (when he ran against Barney Frank) & now the posts on phony Cherokee Warren.

[Clarice]

Geez, Jane. Is Stockton behind the Iron Curtain or something?

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

There's another tell in Pennsylvania. If you look at the RCP display for the Casey/Smith contest, it appears as if Casey has it locked up. Take another look without the Dem larding, using Morning Call, Rasmussen and Susquehanna numbers and Casey is at 47 - that's dead man walking territory for an incumbent and that's a Casey in Pennsylvania. It's roughly the same in Ohio with Brown unable to crack 50% even with the WaPO/Quinnipiac Dem lard.

There are no Pennsylvania seats won by the GOP in '10 listed as tossups and the only Ohio seat (Renacci in OH-16) was redrawn.

It's time for the liars to start the "suddenly tightening" retreat.

[ABO becasue OMG ! Sandy Daze]

2016 has been reposted on the web.

According to Dinesh this is liberal hackers who are trying to tamp down ticket sales. So I recommend you go to the theater.

Posted by: Jane - Mock the Media! | September 29, 2012 at 06:23 PM

Yes, Jane. I too heard that statement from D'Souza, and to be honest, I think that most of those motivated to see 2016, as I was, have already been to the cinema. I have looked but have not found a place that tells me how many screens 2016 is still playing on across America. I suspect that the number is way down as there is now only one cinema showing 2016 in my 50 mile area; when I saw 2016 first time, there were six separate cinemas.

At this point, I am more interested in, frankly, getting the 2016 word out to people than ensuring that number of viewers/ticket sales at cinemas stays high--particularly now that the screen number is reduced.

[Have Blue]

IIRC if you go to the site that hosts that quiz there are more difficult versions, including one that requires you to re-size and rotate the states to their correct orientations prior to placing them.

Also a bunch of other tests.

[Captain Hate]

Harvest Moon tonight folks. It's a clear evening in NE Ahia so it should be shining down and lighting up the night.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Geez, Jane. Is Stockton behind the Iron Curtain or something?

It is solely on the internet.

Now I wonder if SCott knows about it - he has another debate this week. He was due at the event after I left so I didn't have a chance to find out.