It Wasn't A "Slip of the Lip"

or something Gen McChrystal said which was taken out of context. The General spoke out loud the same thoughts most of us already have: The One is working above his pay-grade and has no intention of winning or even mouthing the word Victory, relative to Afghanistan. So if we're not going to win it, lets get the hell out and give it back to the opium farmers and goat humpers. Its trashland. Its asscrackistan. Its douchebagistan. Its Obamalamaland. I don't want another American soldier to die under this wimp-ass, peace activist community organizing asshat's administration.

McChrystal was talking to you!!!!!
The true meaning of the McChrystal episode is titanic, because it is quite apparent the General was sending a stern message directly to the American people. The reason is as clear as it is frightening: our political leadership in Washington is clueless. And their incompetence is costing us not only resources and money, but most importantly the precious lives of brave American soldiers.

General Stanley McChrystal was willing to lose his job to send that message to the only people who can do something about it. He was talking to you.

For more reasons than I can count, it is beyond obvious that McChrystal's public criticism of Obama was not a lapse in judgment or a mistake. It was unquestionably intentional. First, four-star generals have not achieved that rank without knowing the chain of command and the expectation of subordination to superiors. Second, all of McChrystal's advisers were touting the same message, demonstrating this was no fluke, nor an offhand comment taken out of context. Third, McChrystal spoke the inflammatory words to Rolling Stone, a well known anti-war, anti-military magazine. Fourth, reports are that McChrystal actually saw the piece before it went to print and offered up no objections to its content.

If all that is true, then it naturally begs the question: Why did he do it?

McChrystal is one of the lead authors of the "counterinsurgency" strategy that, despite the nay saying of liberals like then-Senators Obama and Biden, transformed Iraq from a quagmire into a success. He knows the strategy works. But as its architect, he also knows this new military policy requires two vital elements: lots of troops, and as much time as necessary for them to do their job.

While other factors are important (cultural bonds, regional partnerships, financial investment, troop morale, etc.), the two most crucial ingredients to making counterinsurgency work (in Afghanistan or anywhere) is a massive amount of troops on the ground to overwhelm the enemy and live among the people, and a commitment to stay as long as necessary to break the will of the enemy.

This is precisely why counterinsurgency worked in Iraq. Over the ignorant objections of both Obama and Biden, then-President Bush listened to his military commanders and ordered the troop surge. And while being pummeled by the media and Democrat political opportunists for not setting a hard deadline for withdrawal, Bush committed to stay in Iraq until the job was finished. The result speaks for itself.

As the Afghan war began to deteriorate, Stanley McChrystal was put in charge to implement that effective strategy there. But he quickly found that Barack Obama is no George W. Bush. First, Obama – having championed himself as the anti-war candidate – cut the number of troops McChrystal requested. And then, in what has to be one of the most foolish wartime moves in history, he announced an arbitrary date for the beginning of American troop withdrawal.

This may please the ex-hippies in the anti-war crowd that Obama courted during the 2008 campaign, but it has emboldened our enemy, imperiled our troops, and created a giant mess of our counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan.

Free Speech For Liberals

WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Democrats: Free speech for me, not for thee
Examiner Editorial
"The bill is full of draconian restrictions on individual political speech expressed via corporations, but gives privileged status to the Democrats' union masters."

DISCLOSE Act attacks freedom of speech
Ken Klukowski, Examiner OpEd
"At least BCRA applied to unions. It was unconstitutional, but at least it went after both sides. DISCLOSE, by contrast, mostly criminalizes speech from conservative groups, while leaving liberals unfettered."

White House, Google violate lobbying pledge
Timothy P. Carney, Examiner Columnist
"Maybe a millionaire who spends his days leaning on policymakers to benefit his company isn't a lobbyist if he calls himself an 'Internet evangelist.'"

A role for the people in judicial selections
William J. Watkins Jr., OpEd Contributor
"The three nominees (it could be two or one depending on the political climate) would be listed on the ballot for the next regularly scheduled federal election (every two years), and the people would vote for one of the nominees to serve on the Supreme Court."

Deserves To Be Posted Full Length

This is the entire article. I personally am torn between my respect for General McChrystal's dedication to duty over the life of his military career, and my disdain upon learning he voted for The One and wrote those stupid ROE's.

THE DOORMAT OF EMPIRES
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 24 June 2010

I couldn't agree with Jack Kelly more in his approval of Zero's firing General McChrystal.

Stanley McChrystal is an insufferably arrogant putz whose criminally stupid Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan deserve more than being relieved of his command.

They deserve a court-martial and prison. His "courageous restraint" ROE's are directly responsible for getting our soldiers killed. He thinks the lives of Afghans are more important to save than Americans. As of last week, one of those Americans fighting and risking their lives to bring freedom to Afghanistan - and one of those lives McChrystal's political correctness is jeopardizing - is my son.

Afghanistan is personal - for me, and because of 9/11, it should be for all Americans.

Here we'll dispense with the idiotically ignorant myth that Afghanistan is the "Graveyard of Empires." Afghanistan has been steamrollered by conquerors for millennia. Then, next week, we'll discuss how easy it would be for us to do so and why it's important that we do.

In 327 BC, Alexander the Great married a beautiful princess named Roxanne in Balkh, capital of Bactria. She was the daughter of the King of Bactria, Oxyartes, and Alexander had just conquered his kingdom. Bactria is now northern Afghanistan - Alexander's wife was Afghan.

Alexander subdued all of Afghanistan because, for over 200 years, it had been part of the Persian Empire he had vowed to conquer. The tribes of Afghanistan had been conquered by the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus (599-530 BC) in the 550's. After Alexander's death in 323, Afghanistan was ruled by his general, Seleucus Nicator (358-281 BC) as part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.

At this moment, US and NATO forces are preparing to secure Afghanistan's second largest city, Kandahar. The city was founded by Alexander in 330 BC and is in fact named after him, from the original Iskandaria (Alexandria - Iskander being the Persian pronunciation of Alexander's name).

In 250 BC, the Greek governor of Bactria, Diodotus, saw his chance to break free of the Seleucids, and established the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. It expanded until it became known to the Romans as "the extremely prosperous Bactria of a thousand cities." Under the rule of Demetrius Aniketos ( Greek for "Invincible," r. 200-180 BC), Greco-Bactria expanded to control present-day eastern Iran, Pakistan, and northwest India.

Under Menander Soter (Greek for "Savior," r. 165-130 BC), the Greek kingdom expanded across northern India to what the Romans called the Menander Mons (Mountains of Menander), today's Naga Hills that form the border between India and Burma. The religion and art of the entire region was a syncretism known as Greco-Buddhism.

After a series of invasions by Hun-like nomadic peoples from China and Central Asia - the Yuezhi, Parthians, and Scythians - Greek rule of Afghanistan and northern India was reduced to a pocket of the Punjab, and came to end under Strato II in 10 BC.

A branch of the Yuezhi called the Kushan came out on top, and became so Hellenized in taking over Greek Bactria they adopted the Greek alphabet and Greco-Buddhism, worshipping Zeus and Herakles (Hercules) as a demi-god.

The Kushan Empire expanded in the 1st century AD to control a vast swath of Central Asia and India. By the 3rd century it was so huge that it fell apart - in the west to resurgent Persians known as the Sassanids (named after Sassan, grandfather of their founder Ardashir I, r. 206-241 AD).

The Sassanid Persians conquered what is now Afghanistan in the 240s, imposed their religion of Zorastrianism upon the inhabitants, and incorporated it into a gigantic empire stretching from current Kazakhstan to Egypt. Their main focus, however, was war with Rome.

In 259, King Sharpur I captured Roman Emperor Valerian, and after killing or enslaving 70,000 Roman soldiers, flayed Valerian alive and kept his skin as a trophy.

Sassanid wars with Rome and Constantinople continued for 350 years, culminating in the Persian army of Khosrau II destroying Jerusalem in May, 614, slaughtering 90,000 Christians in cold blood and demolishing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

This prompted Emperor Heraclius in Constantinople to invade Persia in 621, wiping out Khosrau's army at the Battle of Nineveh in December 627, and terminating the Sassanids. Unfortunately for mankind, the resultant anarchy made it easy for wild tribes to pour out of Arabia and seize Jerusalem, the whole Middle East, and Persia in the name of Islam 20 years later.

The main city of western Afghanistan is Herat. It is dominated by a huge ancient fortress known as the Citadel of Alexander, Qala-e-Iskander, because it was originally built by Iskander in 329 BC. In 652 AD, fresh from sweeping across Sassanid Persia, an Arab army seized Herat. From there, Arabs and Moslemized Persians began forcing Islam upon the peoples and tribes of Afghanistan. It took them 300 years.

Then in the 960s, a group of Turkic slaves, guards of the Arab-Persian rulers, seized control of the eastern Afghan city of Ghazni. The son of one of them, Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030), conducted a horrific reign of Moslem pillage and slaughter, directed primarily at Buddhist-Hindu India, prompting historian Will Durant to comment: "The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history."

The Ghaznavid horror was ended by a far greater one: The Mongol hordes of Genghiz Khan (1162-1227). In 1220-21, Mongol butchers decimated much of Afghanistan, killing over a million people each in Herat and Balkh alone. A Chinese scribe with the Mongols registered surprise at seeing a cat in the ruins of Balkh - surprise that the Mongols left one single thing alive. Afghanistan has never really recovered to this day.

As the Mongol Empire dissolved in the 1300s, a new one arose, led by yet another horrific conqueror, Tamerlane (Timur-e-Lang, 1336-1405). He was a Moslem Persian-speaking Mongol-Turk from near Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan dedicated to massacring entire cities - Moslem or infidel, it didn't matter to him.

In creating his Timurid Empire, his first invasion of Afghanistan was to wipe out a just rebuilt Herat in 1370. Then he rebuilt it again from which to rule Afghanistan. By 1390, his subjugation of Afghanistan was complete.

100 years after Tamerlane, a new conqueror arose. Zahir ud-din Mohammed (1483-1531) was born in the Fergana Valley of current Uzbekistan. Dreaming of ruling an empire like his great-great grandfather Timur, he adopted the nickname of Babar ("Tiger" in Persian), recruited an army of Tajiks, crossed the Hindu Kush, and captured Kabul in 1504.

He then made a deal with the new Shah of Persia, Ismail I, to divide Afghanistan in half, Ismail getting the west, him the east. With his back covered, he launched his completion of Timur's goal of conquering India. With his victory over the Sultan of Delhi at the Battle of Panipat in 1526, the Mogul Empire was born. The Hindus of India called Babar "The Mogul," The Mongol.

Afghanistan remained divided between the Persian and Mogul Empires for 200 years.

In the 1730s, a Turkmen bandit chief in northern Persia named Nadir figured out how to seize control of the disintegrating Persian Empire and declared himself Shah. Even before he consolidated his control over Persia, Nadir Shah (1688-1747) focused on subduing revolts in Afghanistan. He conquered Herat in 1730, then Kandahar and all of Afghanistan in 1738.

In Herat, Nadir Shah recruited Pushtun fighters of the local Abdali clan into his army. He was particularly taken with one of them, Ahmad Abdali for his "young and handsome features," who became his personal attendant or yasawal. Sufficiently pleased with the services such a yasawal provided, Nadir promoted Ahmad - at age 16 - to commander of the Pushtun forces, and then later promised to make him King of Afghanistan.

Shortly thereafter in 1747, Nadir Shah managed to get himself assassinated. Ahmad thereupon declared himself heir to Nadir's Afghan dominions and his title padshah durr-i dawran - "king, pearl of the age." He was 25 years old. The Abdalis changed their tribal name to Durrani, after Ahmad's new title.

Thus the country of Afghanistan was born. Ahmad Shah Durrani (as he is known to history, 1722-1773) and his army quickly gained control of Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul, took Herat from the Persians, and on to take Nishapur and Mashad in northeast Persia. Then he went for India, taking Punjab, Kashmir, and sacking the Mogul capital of Delhi in 1757. He declared a Jihad, Holy War against the Hindus and slaughtered them wholesale.

His particular animus was towards Indian Sikhs, who constantly rebelled. He finally could not put them down, retreated back to Kandahar, and died at age 50. The Durrani Empire subsequently disintegrated. By the early 1800s, Afghanistan was fragmented into warring tribal units with the Durranis controlling only the Kabul Valley. So in stepped the Brits.

The Great Game had begun. England had established their rule over India - the British Raj - and Russia was spreading its rule over Central Asia. Afghanistan was in between. By 1809, the Brits had a relationship with the last Durrani ruler, Shuja Shah in Kabul.

But Shuja Shah was overthrown and there was a chaotic Afghan Civil War that lasted until the leader of the Barakzai tribe, Dost Mohammed (1793-1863) managed to gain control of Kabul and Kandahar in the 1830s. When Dost became buds with the Russians, the Brits freaked and decided to try and put Shuja Shah - an exile in India for 30 years - back in power.

Big mistake. The First Anglo-Afghan War started well enough. The Brits took Kandahar, Gazni, then Kabul, Dost fled, and Shuja installed as Afghan Emir in 1839. The Brits then tried to keep Shuja in power with a garrison of less than 5,000 troops. Dost's son, Akbar Khan, began a guerrilla war against them.

By 1842, the Brits had to flee. Led by the amazingly incompetent General William Elphinstone, 4,500 soldiers (of whom less than 700 were European, the rest mostly Indian), along with 12,000 Indian servants and Afghans, retreated out of Kabul for Jalalabad. Of the 16,500, only one, army surgeon William Brydon, made it to Jalalabad alive.

This horrific annihilation of January 1842 is the source of the "Graveyard of Empires" myth. It was never repeated. By September, a British Army had marched back into Afghanistan and leveled Kabul to rubble. Akbar Khan was put to the sword. Dost Mohammed promised to do as he was told, which he did as Emir until his death in 1863.

When Sher Ali Khan, Dost's son as Emir, began making nice with the Russians, the Brits tried to send a diplomatic mission to Kabul which Sher Ali stopped at gunpoint. This triggered the Second Anglo-Afghan War in September 1878. When Sher Ali found that Moscow would not help him against 40,000 Brit soldiers, he fled, the Brits took Kabul and Kandahar without much problem.

By May 1879, the new Emir, Mohammed Yaqub Khan, had signed a peace treaty with the Brits that granted Afghanistan sovereignty in exchange for England formally controlling all Afghan foreign affairs. When warlord revolts broke out in Ghazni, Herat, and Kandahar, the Brits handily snuffed them out. Then they replaced Yaqub with his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan. This second war was over by July 1880.

Abdur Rahman (1840-1901) was Dost's grandson. He spent his emirship pacifying and putting down constant tribal revolts through his country. In 1893, he and British diplomat Mortimer Durrand negotiated the demarcation of the border between Afghanistan and British India.

The resultant Durrand Line demarcates Afghanistan's entire eastern border (now with Pakistan), 1,610 miles long, from China to Iran. It was confirmed by Afghan rulers by treaty in 1919, 1921, and 1930 - then rejected in 1949 after Pakistan became independent.

Mortimer Durrand then negotiated a treaty between Russia and England in 1895 to demarcate the Wakhan Corridor, a panhandle 100 miles long and 10-40 miles wide stretching all the way to China so that the British and Russian Empires would, however thinly, be separated by a strip of Afghanistan. The Wakhan now separates Tajikistan from Pakistan.

Rahman's son Habibullah (1872-1919) signed a Treaty of Friendship with Britain in 1905 and made a state visit to Buckingham Palace in 1907. He resisted every demand of the Ottoman Sultanate - the spiritual leader of Islam - to join World War I on Turkey and Germany's side. He brought Western medicine to his country and made a number of educational and legal reforms.

Tragically, he was assassinated in 1919, with heavy suspicion falling on his son Amanullah - which was increased when Amanullah seized power and declared himself King of Afghanistan. As revolts mounted against him, he decided to distract them by declaring war on the infidel British. Thus began the Third Anglo-Afghan War.

The Brits, however, were ill-equipped to fight it, with their units in India, and the Indian Army, hollowed out just after WWI. Amanullah gathered thousands of Afghan tribesmen and, on May 3, 1919 invaded through the Khyber Pass. The Brits quickly rallied, and they, together with Gurkhas with bayonets chased the Afghans back across the Khyber.

The fighting became dicey, and a lot of it took place in what is now ultimate Apache country, Waziristan. Yet it took only a month before Amanullah sued for peace on June 3. Yes, the Third Anglo-Afghan War was won by the Brits in one month.

Amanullah lasted until 1929 when one too many revolts broke out, he abdicated, and his commanding general, Mohammed Nadir, went to India to ask for British troops. The Brits complied, and a British army marched to Kabul and installed Nadir as King. The main achievement of Nadir's rule was to combat tribal revolts against him by setting the tribes against each other in race wars, primarily Pushtuns against Tajiks and Hazaras.

A Hazara teen-ager bumped him off in 1933. Then Afghanistan got lucky. Nadir Shah's son, Mohammed Zahir Shah (1914-2007), became King at age 19 - and Afghanistan entered a golden age of peace that lasted 40 years.

I first traveled through Afghanistan in 1963. You could go anywhere. I met guys who bicycled from Herat to Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul with no problem. I saw women in full tshadris (the complete burqa with a mesh netting to see through) walking next to women in high heels, knee-length skirts, and bee-hive hair-dos on the streets of Kabul. It was a wonderful, exciting - and peaceful - place.

I was back in 1973. The end had begun. Zahir Shah's cousin Mohammed Daoud had staged a coup with Soviet money. Soviet weapons flooded in, along with Soviet agents. The Afghan Communist Party exploded in growth - so much it alarmed Daoud.

With good reason. Its leader, Hafizullah Amin, decided Daoud was more Afghan than Communist, staged a coup in April 1978, and had Daoud and his family shot. All Afghanistan erupted in uncontrollable rebellion. In December 1979, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev ordered the Red Army to invade. KGB and Spetznaz agents entered the presidential palace in Kabul on December 27, shot Amin, and installed another Communist, Babrak Karmal, as the Soviet puppet.

Karmal lasted until 1986, when the Soviets replaced him with the thuggish head of KHAD, the Afghan KGB, Mohammed Najibullah.

As you know, I spent a lot of time in the 1980s with the Afghan Mujahaddin fighting the Soviets. The bottom line - as discussed in Charlie Wilson and Ronald Reagan's War (December 2007, and I really encourage you to read or re-read it) - is that as of August 1986, the Soviets had won. The Afghans were defeated. I saw it with my own eyes.

Then, on September 26, 1986, the first Stinger missiles were fired, shooting down two Soviet helicopters, and the war was back on. On February 15, 1989, the Soviets finished their retreat. It was Stinger missiles from Ronald Reagan that defeated the Soviets, not the invincible unconquerable Afghans who make a graveyard of every army that ever attempted to conquer them in all of human history.

You've now seen how this is complete, total, ignorant, uneducated rubbish. Afghanistan has been for thousands of years the Doormat of Empires.

Next week, we'll discuss how to make it a doormat again.

Kermit

As of today, I am closing every oil and gas pipeline in Louisiana indefinitely,

Obama's administration has delayed action throughout the oil crisis. Asked for equipment sits in warehouses. Offered help has been rejected. Permission for needed sand berms never arrived, being under consideration while oil soaks the marshes. However, the government is quick to deny permission for the berms once Governor Jindal acted on his own.

Well, the people of Louisiana are getting fed up. Here's a speech that some would like Governor Jindal to have given at a prayer service on June 21st. He needs to fight fire with fire.

Excerpts:

“My fellow Louisianians, I speak with a heavy heart to you today. It’s heavy because I still grieve, with many of you, for the lives of the 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon who needlessly perished in an unnecessary disaster. I still grieve for the damage to our coast done by BP, a company we’ve seen to have through its negligence, cutting of corners and dysfunction since the catastrophe in the Gulf has done little or nothing to help us mitigate the losses along our coast. I grieve for the frustration we’ve felt in dealing with a sluggish and stupid federal response – one which stands in our way as we attempt to pile sand on barrier islands to keep oil from our marshes and use creative approaches to siphon oil where it has already intruded.....

..........“But while I grieve, a light shines in my mind. Because amid this pain and destruction, I am now enlightened. I have been converted. And I am ready to help the President lead us from the error of our ways.

“You see, last week the President told us that safety is paramount. He also told us it’s time to navigate away from oil. And I have heard his call. I am now fully on board with that agenda. And like the President, I will act in furtherance of it.

“So here in Louisiana we will do both. We will impose safety, and we will navigate away from oil. It may inconvenience many, but I’m convinced it is the right thing to do.

“As of today, I am closing every oil and gas pipeline in Louisiana indefinitely, so that inspectors from state regulatory agencies might work to insure their integrity.

That would get everyone's attention. Even on the golf course.

Pressure Sensitive Land Mines? Heck yeah!

Bill Whittle explains how he could improve futbol soccer in the Hater's Guide to World Cup Soccer.

Not mentioned, but has anyone else noticed that the very same people that complain that NASCAR is boring, unlike THEIR racing in Europe, watch men run back and forth for 90 minutes, sometimes with no score? And they still think that would be a good game?

In Honor of the World Cup

Maybe this is why soccer doesn't catch on in the US......



h/t tip Theo

A Hard Backhand Return

--------------------
News Alert: Administration intends new moratorium on drilling after judge strikes down existing one
08:43 PM EDT Tuesday, June 22, 2010
--------------------

Hours after a federal judge blocked a moratorium on deepwater drilling from taking effect, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday night that he will issue a new order against such drilling.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com:

Federal Judge Protects the Oil Workers

Word just came down that a Federal judge has blocked the 6-month moratorium on off-shore drilling. White House will appeal the decision.

That Darn Chicken

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
h/t and stolen from Classic Arms

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my shotgun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: What?, Did I miss one?

Don't Miss This Movie

Tankerbabe and Uncle Jimbo both asked me to remind everyone about the National Geographic special "Restrepo" previewing in DC on 28 June.

You are invited if you're in the neighborhood.

Also, we have one week until the WNBA Washington Mystics play the Phoenix Mercury at the Verizon Center in DC. I'll be there manning a table, and we should have some "interesting" people dropping by. If you can't make it, please help send a Warrior and his family to the game by clicking the link at the top of the page and buying a ticket for a soldier. You'll be helping Warrior Legacy Foundation and Cooking with the Troops continue our missions of supporting those who gave so much and ask for nothing.

The Duke vs Etheridge

Properly stolen from Moonbattery, source of good things. Go look.

Qotd - You kill someone, we kill you back (paraphrased)

In regards to those that believe Sharia should be followed in America, and that any actions that harm others is justifiable due to religious customs and belief:

Posted at Moonbattery in the commets:
(emphasis mine)

Posted by: James McEnanly at June 18, 2010 5:35 AM

"You say it is your custom to burn widows. Very well, we also have a custom. When men burn women alive, we put ropes round their necks and hang them. You build your funeral pyre. Next to it my carpenters will build a gallows. You follow your customs, then we will follow ours."

Sir Charles Napier.

19th century British hang Indians in India for the ritual killing of women.

21st century Canadian moonbats argue for leniency in the case of Islamist ritual murder in Canada.

Now you know why leftists like to think of themselves as progressive. Nothing says forward thinking enlightenment quite like enabling pre-Medieval barbarism.

NRA Board Member Speaks Out On Collusion With DhimmiRats

NRA Board Member Cleta Mitchell Weighs in on the NRA's Backroom Deal for an Exemption from the DISCLOSE Act (HR 5175):

"For its part, the NRA -- on whose board of directors I serve -- rather than holding steadfastly to its historic principles of defending the Constitution and continuing its noble fight against government regulation of political speech instead opted for a political deal borne of self-interest in exchange for "neutrality" from the legislation's requirements. In doing so, the NRA has, sadly, affirmed the notion held by congressional Democrats (and some Republicans), liberal activists, the media establishment and, at least for now, a minority on the Supreme Court that First Amendment protections are subject to negotiation. The Second Amendment surely cannot be far behind...

Democrats would effectively neuter the [Citizens United] decision by requiring the names of multiple donors to be recited in ads (thus shrinking the time spent on actual speech), requiring the CEO of a corporate donor to personally appear in campaign-related ads, expanding the coverage period to virtually the entire election year, and including myriad other rules that the NRA described last month as "byzantine" and an "arbitrary patchwork of reporting and disclosure requirements."

The NRA's wheel-squeaking bought it an exemption from those requirements. Tea Party organizations arising spontaneously since 2009? Out of luck. Online organizations with large e-mail followings but perhaps no formal dues structure? Forget it."

DCExaminer Morning Must Reads

DCExaminer Morning Must Reads

DISCLOSE-HR 5175

"The proposals in the ‘DISCLOSE Act’ (Democratic Incumbents Seeking to Contain Losses by Outlawing Speech in Elections) amount to nothing more than political posturing…This bill would create another bureaucratic layer of political speech regulation, which would punish small business owners and grassroots groups who lack the resources to comply with such onerous provisions.” - Bradley Smith, Center for Competitive Politics Chairman and Former FEC Commissioner, 2000-2005

On April 29, 2010, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced H.R. 5175, the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act. The bill is a direct response to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission – a First Amendment victory in which the Supreme Court overturned the prohibition on corporations and unions using treasury funds for independent expenditures supporting or opposing political candidates at any time of the year. Simply put, the DISCLOSE Act will limit the political speech that was protected and encouraged by Citizens United.

The DISCLOSE Act was marked up on Thursday, May 20, 2010, and may come to the floor later this week after rumors that the Democrats have reached an agreement with certain key groups. This is not meant to be an extensive analysis – which will be provided in the Legislative Bulletin once the bill comes to the floor – but rather to highlight some of the most egregious provisions of the bill.

Partisan ploy to get Democrats elected to Congress. The bill, “coincidentally” sponsored by the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in charge of electing Democrats to Congress, re-writes campaign finance laws in favor of Democrats right before elections. It was crafted behind closed doors with no input from Republican members of the House Administration Committee. The bill was designed by Democrats to silence their political opponents.

Creates a special, narrow carve-out for specific organizations intended to sway votes toward passage of the bill. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the Humane Society, and possibly a very small number of other groups, are reportedly covered in a last minute deal that creates an exemption from the financial disclosure requirements in the bill. This carve out does nothing to protect the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans who want to engage in the political process but will instead be deterred by this bill. As stated in a Wall Street Journal editorial this morning, “Creating a special exception for the NRA, and thereby assuring the Democrats ‘good grades’ on Second Amendment rights, eases the way for the bill to be passed. A failing grade on First Amendment rights is somebody else's problem.” The exemption is intended to make it easier for a bad bill to get the votes it needs to pass.

Favors unions over corporations. Current law already bans foreign nationals from contributing to elections. Current law already bans foreign nationals from contributing to elections. See the RSC Policy Paper on Citizens United for more details. DISCLOSE makes current law much more restrictive and bans independent expenditures on activity by American corporations with 20% or more foreign ownership. However, similar restrictions are not included for unions with foreign members or non-citizen members. As eight former Federal Election Commissioners stated in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “… Disclose does not ban foreign speech but speech by American citizen shareholders of U.S. companies that have some element of foreign ownership, even when those foreigners have no control over the decisions made by the Americans who run the company.” Additionally, the new threshold for reporting ($600 in donations for independent expenditures) will have little effect on unions whose members’ annual dues average much lower than $600. This would preclude unions from having to report. The bill also prohibits independent expenditures or disbursing funds for electioneering communications by anyone with a government contract greater than $7 million. (Originally, the threshold was $50,000, which was changed in mark-up.) This does not apply to unions in collective bargaining agreements with the government.

Threatens organizations with lawsuits for non-compliance. The bill becomes effective 30 days after enactment, giving the Federal Election Commission no time to craft regulations relating to the implementation of the bill, which will certainly be complicated, and not to mention expensive, to execute. Organizations would have to operate without any guidance from the FEC and risk possible lawsuits.

Onerous disclosure and reporting requirements will deter citizen engagement. The bill includes requirements that every incorporated entity engaged in independent campaign activity must list all donors of $600 or more with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The bill also requires CEOs of organizations to appear in the ads, and state their name and their organization two times. Additionally, the top five funders of the organization must be listed in the ad (and top two for radio), and if there is a top “significant” funder, he or she must identify himself or herself, his or her title, and state the name of the organization three times in the ad. These tedious and onerous requirements will have the effect of deterring organizations from getting involved in elections (and potentially take up most of the ad time).

Citizens United was a triumph in defense of the First Amendment right to free speech and a reaffirmation of the rights of businesses, unions, and citizens’ associations to engage in political communications. The DISCLOSE Act is the opposite, and the business community knows it. This bill is an attack on the ability of non-party organizations to engage in the political realm during an election year.

NRA Sells Out Gun Owners

Email from a friend out in the western part of the Territories.
HR 5175 Restriction of Free Speech
You Can't Call A Congressperson An Idiot Act

The NRA is fully prepared to sell out grassroots gun organizations across the nation, including VCDL, to the anti-gun Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives by not fighting a bill that will gag the free speech of those who criticize members of Congress.

The NRA, in a news release included below, has said it will turn a blind eye to H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act, since it exempts the NRA. Bottom line: the NRA has been bought off.

Here is the criteria in the bill for an exemption:
* More than 1 million members
* Has been in existence for more than 10 years
* Has members in all 50 states
* Raises 15 percent or less of their income from corporations

It appears the ONLY gun organization to meet that set of criteria would be the NRA - not GOA or SAF or CCRKBA, much less VCDL.

VCDL rarely criticizes another gun organization, but on this issue we cannot, and must not, hold our tongues.

Let me not mince words - this appears to be an unholy alliance between Nancy Pelosi and the NRA, which would wipe out the NRA's competition.

If you snuggle up with a rattlesnake you are going to get bit. The NRA is playing a fool's game if they think they will survive this unscathed. Nancy Pelosi is not their friend now, nor will she ever be.

For their own self-interest, the NRA is apparently choosing to drive, or at least ride in, the bus that is going to run over the rest of us.

Portion of Press Release from NRA:
On June 14, 2010, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged that H.R. 5175 would be amended to exempt groups like the NRA, that meet certain criteria, from its onerous restrictions on political speech. As a result, and as long as that remains the case, the NRA will not be involved in final consideration of the House bill.

Guns and Free Speech
16 June 2010
The Wall Street Journal

The National Rifle Association is suffering a sudden onset of amnesia this week, as the gun lobby cuts a deal to exempt itself from the latest Congressional attempt to repeal the First Amendment. NRA members may soon regret the organization's bid to ingratiate itself with Democrats at the expense of its longtime free-speech allies.

The campaign finance bill, sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen, is the Democratic response to the Supreme Court's January decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which restored the First Amendment right of corporations, unions and nonprofits to make independent campaign expenditures. At the time, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre called Citizens United "a defeat for arrogant elitists who wanted to carve out free speech as a privilege for themselves and deny it to the rest of us."

Look who's arrogant and elitist now. Under the Schumer-Van Hollen bill, political speech would be bound up with new restrictions, including special burdens on government contractors and corporations that have a certain level of foreign ownership or received TARP funds. The bill also includes disclosure rules designed to hit corporations, requiring CEOs to appear to "approve this message" the way politicians do, and for groups to identify their donors. Except for the NRA.

Under the NRA carve-out in the House bill, the new rules won't apply to any organizations that have been around for more than 10 years, have more than a million members and receive less than 15% of their funding from corporate donors. That fits the NRA nicely, though as best we can figure, everyone else, from the Sierra Club to Planned Parenthood, fails to qualify. So much for defending the little guy against the fat cats.

This backroom deal came at the behest of Democrats from conservative states, for whom the NRA's scorecard of their legislative record can be a major boost or obstacle to election. Creating a special exception for the NRA, and thereby assuring the Democrats "good grades" on Second Amendment rights, eases the way for the bill to be passed. A failing grade on First Amendment rights is somebody else's problem.

By erecting what amounts to a grandfather clause of First Amendment rights, the bill creates a sort of interest-group incumbency, concentrating the power to speak freely among a handful of large and longstanding groups. Established organizations like the NRA provide important representation for their members, but their lobbying cause is specific and limited.

Left vulnerable by the special treatment are the smaller grassroots outfits that often pop up in response to new and immediate policy challenges. The ability of these groups to count on the full protection of the First Amendment is critical to diverse and responsive political debate.

The NRA may swing a big lobbying stick by virtue of the breadth and voting power of its members, but it draws its legitimacy from the Constitution and it has drawn support on gun rights from those who care about the entire Bill of Rights. Cutting a special deal at the expense of the First Amendment with lawmakers who have decided for now to stop gutting the Second Amendment reveals an NRA that is unprincipled and will be weaker for it in the long run.

The Usual Suspects-Minus One

Oil company executives were dragged to Washington once again to face the self-rightous indignation of the elitist dhimmiRats who can't stand to see anyone be productive or creative unless it suits their agenda.

The line-up of oil companies facing this inquistion consisted of all the major players in the oil and gas exploration, production, refining and retail distribution. Executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) had to endure the manufactured wrath of politicians who couldn't find their ass with both hands, a map and a flashlight.

Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass.) accused all of the oil companies at the hearing of having spill response plans that are outdated and "dead ringers for BP's." Markey zeroed in on BP America Chairman Lamar McKay, asking him: "Are you ready to apologize for getting that number so grossly wrong that the capacity of federal and state governments to put in place a response was delayed because you did not do the job?"

"I'm asking you to resign," Rep. Cliff Stearns (R, Fla.) told McKay.

(they would have put me in restraints at this point, cause I would have been dancing on his head singing "You Can Kiss My glAss")

However, one oil company didn't have to attend this witch hunt. Guess which oil company did not send an executive to be grilled by the Wacky-Marxists?

Occidental Petroleum

Why is that?

10 Things Him Could Have Done, but Chose Not To

Hey Barack, You Should’ve Done This...

President Obama addressed the nation on the Gulf oil spill, and told the American people how he has been doing all he can to “plug the damn hole” and whose behind he might kick.

Since his strategy dealing with the spill seems lacking thus far, Redstate editor Erick Erickson has compiled a Top 10 list of things to alleviate the disaster that Obama could have done but didn’t.

1. Accepted help from the Netherlands when they offered it shortly after the accident. The Dutch, experienced in the oil business, offered prompt help for oil skimming booms and plans to create barriers to stop the oil from infiltrating into wetland areas.

2. Suspended the Jones Act, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow foreign vessels into American waters to assist with recovery without having to swap ships and transfer equipment onto American flagged vessels.

3. Suspended the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage laws, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow rapid deployment of new workers to help with containment efforts.

4. Suspended FEMA contracting and bidding rules, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow a more rapid assignment of contracts to assist with the recovery effort.

5. Allowed coastal governors to immediately begin dredging to create barrier islands.

6. Talked to BP's CEO to establish initial metrics for progress to gauge BP's response so the federal government would have ascertainable metrics to determine when federal intervention was needed. Heck, he should have talked to BP's CEO period.

7. Not imposed a blanket deep water drilling moratorium, further crippling economies in coastal communities.

8. Talked to experts about how to fix the problem instead of trying to figure out whose "ass to kick."

9. Not waited to act lest he be seen as owning the situation. Guess what? He owns it now so why is he still on the golf course?

10. Not have wasted time trying to blame the accident on George Bush before diving in to take responsibility.

Possible Obama speech found in trash

Highlights in Green are mine. Orange are changes to the speech by....someone.....

Good evening. (LIE! Obama is on the air.)

As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from take advantage of? a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American to advance my agenda. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists with very restrictive ROE to prevent bad press. And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast, where I walked aimlessly about and drank alcoholic girly drinks, to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens. But enough about our war on oil....

On April 20th, an explosion ripped through BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about forty miles off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers lost their lives. Seventeen others were injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water. Of course, fixing something like this on land, like at ANWR, would be child's play.

Because there has never been a leak of this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge – a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning an ass kicking physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice. Of course, I haven't yet talked to the CEO OF THE OIL COMPANY INVOLVED, THAT'S JUST CRAZY TALK.

As a result of these efforts, we have directed Barack Petroleum to mobilize additional equipment and technology. In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90% of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely.

Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years. I can use this crisis FOREVER! Bush had it easy. New Orleans is all fixed, uh, better now.

But make no mistake: we will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes, to pass Cap and Trade. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy. Except keep their most important and vital industry alive. That..we're going to shut down.

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again. (Pssst, Rahm, what was the plan again?)

First, the cleanup. From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been voting present in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history – an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost forty years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 ass-kicking personnel who are working across four states to contain and cleanup the oil. Thousands of ass-kicking ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I have authorized the deployment of over 17,000 ass-kicking National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims – and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible. However, if it fails, its all BP's fault.

Because of our lack of leadership efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been needlessly spilled removed from the water through burning, skimming, and other collection methods. Millions more would have been removed if I had not blocked other countries from assisting the US. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. Miles more of boom sit in a warehouse, ignored by the federal gov't, even though it was requested by Gov. Jindal back in May. But he's a Republican.... you know how that goes. We have approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we are working with Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines. I had to approve the construction of the barrier islands, Gov. Jindal went ahead without me.

As the clean up continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need, as long as it doesn't impact the unions, cost George Soros money, or prevents my agenda from advancing. Now, a mobilization of this speed(speed? Day 57!) and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise. I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip. So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it. If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them. (Um.....dude, suspend the Jones Act and get more damn booms, and remove the moratorium, and uh....cut the paper work.......OH. you meant about advancing Cap and Trade. Never mind.)

But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts (That's his BEST effort? We're doomed.), oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly, no matter how effective our response becomes, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done. That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast. Except for the, you know, oil industry......

You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. That's right! I've completely gutted the oil drilling industry in Lousiana for years to come. Georgie Soros has to make money with Petrobras Oil. I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year. I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers – even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected. I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists will start to come back. The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost, but the oil industry workers will just have to get new jobs......

I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and kick his ass on pay per view, that should pay for the spill inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And the US will pay the oil workers that I have ruined..what? And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party. I'm sure the SEIU can do it.

Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short-term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that has already suffered multiple (uh...one) economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation caused by the Federal Government's Army Corps of Engineers that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats and some of the best hunting and fishing in America. And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment. So, here I go. I'm the man!

I make that commitment tonight. Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, a former governor of Mississippi, and a son of the Gulf, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region. Anybody but the oil industry. Or me. I don't want any responsibility, just credit. And Barack Petroleum will foot the bill for the whole thing. Or go broke. I don't care.

The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again. A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe – that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken. Absolutely, positively, guaranteed safe. This plan comes from the same place that the green jobs and free energy comes from. Someone said that if this had happened in ANWR, that it would have been fixed within days. And if we had kept drilling close inshore, it would have been fixed within a couple of weeks. I'm sure they're wrong. They're not me.

That was obviously not the case on the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why.( Because you and yours took money from BP and gave them safety awards LAST YEAR!) The American people deserve to know why. The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion – these families deserve to know why. And so I have established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place so that no fault is placed on me. Already, I have issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. (Except we haven't bothered to ask THEM and the industry experts stated that the moratorium is unnecessary and will set back the industry for YEARS.) And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially, and keep the blame off of me.

One place we have already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service. Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility – a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves. At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations. And then my administration continued where they left off, taking bribe, uh, campaign donations for as long as BP supported Cap and Trade.

When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency and he failed miserably. But he kept the money flowing. But it’s now clear that the problems there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow. Cap and Trade still isn't passed. And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency – Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General. I wonder if this IG will be as independent as those Obama fired in the financial world. His charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog – not its partner.

One of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations, better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20% of the world’s oil, but have less than 2% of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean – because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water. (Because the environmentalists prevent us from drilling on land and in shallow water. ANWR anybody?)

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked – not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor. And that's why I'm authorizing the building of 200 nuclear power pla.....wait. What? No way.

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are drilling off our Florida coast in deep water because we won't do it investing in clean energy jobs OH BS and industries that should be here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

We cannot consign our children to this future. Therefore, I'm destroying the American Oil industry and putting them on welfare. Coal is next. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that environmentalist wackos cause unintended consequences when the prevent shallow drilling that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny. Therefore, I'm authorizing the formation of the Agency for Federal Unicorn-Based Alimentary Resources.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, but over the last year and a half, we have already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that will someday lead to entire new industries. So those dozens of people can look to a happy future. In China.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of good, middle-class jobs – but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation – workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors. We have to hurry! Novemeber is coming and the GOP is going to Kick MY Ass.

When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. And no one listened! BWAHAHAHA! Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill – a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses, just like the Health Care bill makes health care cheaper and better, too.

Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And some believe we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy – because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party – as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development – and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development. I'm happy to look at all other ideas as long as they follow my restricted outlook. NO nukes!

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fear hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction, unless its me. Then its called.........something....oh yes, pondering the complex problems of the day. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet. You see, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. And that's why I cut the Space Program and I'm killing industries. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny – our determination to fight for the America we want for our children, unless it disagrees with MY vision for America. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there. We know we’ll get there.

It is a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now. (That faith that clings bitterly to guns and the bible, that faith that knows that Presidential terms are only 4 years long....if we can only hang on....)

Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea – some for weeks at a time.

The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago – at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced.

And still, they came and they prayed. For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers. The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “…even in the midst of the storm.”

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. I will make sure of that. What sees us through – what has always seen us through – is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it. Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.

War and Remembrance

War and Remembrance
The Hammer at her VERY BEST!!!

You must read this.

Tissue Box Alert!!!

Whoooooo Are You? Who who who who?

"I really wanna know"

I'll need some down time to come up with appropriate lyrics set to the Who's "Who Are You", to provide a set-piece for this little rub-up in DC.

North Carolina needs to break out the Extra-large, super-duty cans of WhoopAss for this asshat Congresscritter:

Apparently President Obama Is Flexible

Updated and bumped:
Admiral in charge not told of assets for clean up in Gulf. Booms in the warehouse in Maine, still there.
Governor Jindal asked for booms a week after the explosion and was still millions of feet short on May 24th.

We are in the VERY best of hands.....hope he can find HIS butt with those hands.

President Obama is going to kick his own ass. That should be on pay per view.

Even Rolling Stone knows whose ass needs to be kicked.

First, the President votes "present", stating that he doesn't have the authority to control the cleanup. Then,

"The buck," he reiterated the next day on the sullied Louisiana coastline, "stops with me."

By this, I'm sure, he meant that BP had paid him a lot of money.

Wait,......what? That's not what he meant? So, even though he took responsibility for everything, he still has to find out whose ass has to be kicked? Um, dude.......if you don't know by now, perhaps we need someone that has a clue. Even though, he says that his administration was in control of everything, HE STILL DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. He's still trying to blame OTHERS.

Red tape keeps miles of booms in a warehouse in Maine.
Assistance from the Netherlands has been delayed.
State governments have been tied up by red tape for weeks.
Possible private solutions ignored.
The Government is making things worse.

Obama is failing to lead.

Heck, he hasn't even been good at "organizing" the response.

I don't think he WANTS to actually be in charge, he just wants the credit for fixing it.

Saudi Arabia, Israel's Ally?

Common knowledge says that Israel MUST strike at Iran to prevent the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon.

Common knowledge says that Israel MUST fly over Iraq to do so. In fact, stories have been written for years about Israel negotiating with the US to fly through Iraqi air space.

Not so much. Common knowledge seems to be wrong. Look at the map.

To fly across Iraq, Israelis would also have to fly over Jordan or Syria. That's not going to happen.

However, Israel's ally, Saudi Arabia....

Yes, Saudi Arabia, has possibly given Israel permission to overfly their country for a strike.

From the Times Online UK:

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid.

Now, the question of the day is, "would it be possible for Israel's Air Force be able to take down the program? "

Well, that question, and why did this get published? Wouldn't it have been better to have been kept a surprise?

I wonder why we need to have the Israeli's do our work for us. We have been at war with Iran since 1979. We haven't declared war, but, they did.

If Israel strikes Iran, we should be there with them. A better solution would be to support the democratic forces within Iran, but, with this cabal in power in Washington, that's not going to happen. And President Obama won't support Israel if he doesn't have to....

To Our Cousins Across the Pond

First off, while I cannot speak for everyone on this blog, I want to emphasize that I do not hold BP accountable for the blowout that allowed the oil to escape. Frankly, no one knows exactly what happened or why, and to assess blame on anyone this early in the process is either irresponsible or diabolical.

Second, please know that Bambi, aka Dr Utopia, no longer speaks for the majority of Americans. He does not like it when people make money and do not give it away to him. He was very happy taking campaign contributions from all sorts of companies and corporations, and now that he has what he wants, he no longer has a need for the capitalist system which generated those funds. He is a typical Marxist. Use whatever is needed to get the results and then do what you want.

He is also adamantly against any sort of free trade and free will. He is a snake oil salesman; a shyster; a con man. And whats up with those Dumbo ears? You ever see a set of ring hangers like that in your life? I bet he has to tape them back to keep his skinny little ass on the ground in a high wind.

I am not going to apologize for Dr Utopia's remarks concerning BP or Britain. I didn't vote for his leftist agenda and its not my fault; however we will do everything legally allowed to rid ourselves of this penis-head ASAP.

You can take that to the bank.

Prince William County Planning Commission

Next Wednesday, June 16th, there is a planning commission hearing for the Wartime Museum and we're trying to gather as many supporters to attend as we can.

Obviously, the more Prince William County supporters we can gather the better, but support from any of you would be greatly appreciated.

The hearing is at 7pm at the McCoart Building in Woodbridge Virginia.

If you are unable to attend all I ask is that you forward this information to friends you think may be able to go. Again, if you live in or know a lot of people in the PWC area please ask them to come out and support the Museum.

IT REALLY IS OFFICIAL NOW!!!!

Laughing Wolf just sent me a text message to inform me that the IRS, in its infinite and undeniable wisdom, has granted Cooking with the Troops 501(c)(3) status. We are non-profit for real, babies!!!!!!!

We still need a logo and we've gotten some really creative entries so far. The contest runs til 25 June, so if you, or someone you know, is handy with graphics design, here's your chance to get famous or make them famous. (or infamous, as the case may be.)

We're still trying to get as many Warriors as possible to the Mystics/Mercury WNBA game in DC on the 27th. The link to donate a ticket is on the left at the top of this page. 18 bucks a ticket and 3 dollars comes back to WLF/CwtT. My wife bought 5 and I kicked in 5 cause she made me.

Let the Ass Whooping Begin

I have the list. The top five spots are occupied by His Holiness the Annointed One, "I've been involved since it started to rain...I stood in the rain before the talking heads got their umbrellas".
I'm still not convinced this was "just an industrial accident", and if I were the Governor of a Gulf Coast state, I'd be cleaning my beaches, and telling the MUCC, the COE, and the Bambi Administration to go pound sand. I'd rather seek forgiveness than ask permission.

How the White House is Making Oil Recovery Harder
Five weeks ago Escambia County officials requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola's beaches. County officials still haven't heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee told The Daily Caller why: "Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.

"Keeping local governments in the dark is just one reason why the frustration of residents in the Gulf is so palpable. State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better.

And when the federal government isn't sapping the initiative and expertise of local governments, it has been preventing foreign governments from helping. Just three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the Dutch government offered to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms and proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands. LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) supported the idea, but the Obama administration refused the help. All told, thirteen countries have offered to help us clean up the Gulf, and the Obama administration has turned them all down.

According to one Dutch newspaper, European firms could complete the oil spill clean up by themselves in just four months, and three months if they work with the United States, which is much faster than the estimated nine months it would take the Obama administration to go it alone. The major stumbling block is a protectionist piece of legislation called the Jones Act which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. But in an emergency this law can be temporarily waived as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff did after Katrina. Each day our European allies are prevented from helping us speed up the clean up is another day that Gulf fishing and tourism jobs die.

And then there are the energy jobs that the Obama administration is killing with its over-expansive ban on offshore energy development. Experts--who were consulted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before he issued his May 27 report recommending a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet--now tell The New Orleans Times-Picayune that they only supported a six-month ban on new drilling in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. A letter from the experts protesting the use of their names to support a ban they actually oppose reads: "A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation's economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill. We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do."

And just how many innocent jobs is Obama's oil ban killing? An earlier Times-Picayune report estimated the moratorium could cost Louisiana $2.97 billion in revenue and 7,590 jobs directly related to the oil industry. President Obama still has the power to save many of the jobs. He could reverse his decision and lift the ban. But political considerations make that impossible.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the President was the largest single recipient of campaign contributions from BP and its employees over the past twenty years. Therefore, the President has to put distance between himself and BP, which may be why President Obama has not spoken with BP CEO Tony Hayward one single time since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April. The problem is, vilifying BP's corporate leadership does nothing to stop the spill or quicken the cleanup.

After the Obama administration refused help from the Netherlands, Geert Visser, the consul general for the Netherlands in Houston, told Loren Steffy: "Let's forget about politics; let's get it done." It's sound advice, Mr. President. Let's free local governments to clean up their shores, waive protectionist laws that keep out foreign help, and let the oil workers who can safely do so get back to work. Let's get it done.

Here's the thing...they DON'T WANT TO CLEAN IT UP!!! They need this crisis to further their agenda. How would it look if it only took a few months to get this fixed? Why, people would say, "We can fix anything. Keep drilling, but be careful this time."

Screw With Texas At Your Own Risk

Editorial Exegesis

"National Security: A Mexican cartel plots to blow up a dam -- in Texas! Another pack of Mexican terrorists takes cash from Hugo Chavez. And what is Washington wringing its hands about? Why, racism in Arizona. If still more proof is needed that the border needs to be secured, the latest threats emerging from Mexico should do the trick. Together, they signal that the country's war could advance to a more savage stage. ... These blood-chilling scenarios aren't fantasies.

They are signs of an emerging threat that gets little attention from U.S. lawmakers. Instead of focusing on making the border secure, they play partisan political games, pandering to potential voting blocs by dangling amnesty in front of illegal immigrants, grandstanding against Arizona's effort to enforce federal law and coming up with one excuse after another for not erecting a border fence. As illegal armed groups plot to blow up infrastructure even in this country, Democrats in Congress are more concerned about an illegal immigrant getting his feelings hurt if a police officer in Arizona asks him to show some ID." --Investor's Business Daily

We Just Want the Information for Record Keeping

Q: Does the new health care law require workers to pay income tax on the value of employer-provided health insurance?
A: No. The value will appear on employees’ W-2 forms for information purposes, but will not be considered taxable income.

Read the full question and answer
View the Ask FactCheck archives

Everyone who thinks the government just wants this information for record keeping raise your hand.

Everyone who thinks the government is entitled to know the private dealings between an employee and employer raise your hand.

Everyone who thinks the government is entitled to this information raise your hand.

If you believe the government will not use this information at some point in the future, I have a bridge in Brooklyn and some oceanfront in Arizona I can let you have cheap.

Urban Infidel: Ground Zero Mosque Protest New York City

Urban Infidel: Ground Zero Mosque Protest New York City

All our friends were there. You just know this will be all over the news in the morning.

Video of Para-Military Training

Assume for a moment the people you see in this video were proclaiming themselves Christian. What would the government do? They'd move in with tanks and flamethrowers, of course. They already did it once. However, mooooslims get a pass on weapons training and possession. Freedom of religion, don't ya know.




For a global display of Terrorism and other suspicious events, go to GlobalIncidentMap.com. Their world map is updated every 7.5 minutes. Another source is Homegrown Jihad - 35 Terrorist Compounds Here In The USA.

Also, you may want to read this study on sleeper cells.
[View: An Insider View of the Sleeper Cell]