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Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
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Saturday, May 25, 2013
Unions Have Turned on Obamacare, Having Seen What's in the Law The Associated Press is reporting that many unions, which once enthusiastically backed the health care reform law known as Obamacare, are now turning against it with a vengeance. To quote Nancy Pelosi, they are finding out what's in the law. Now PETA Wants to Sue People Who Leave Anonymous Comments PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is incensed over an article in the Huffington Post that details that organization's unsettling practice of euthanizing animals in a Virginia facility that many have assumed is a no kill shelter. Did Pope Francis Really Mean that Atheists Could Achieve Salvation?
| The Atlantic relates a recent homily given by Pope Francis I in which he suggested that there may be a path to eternal salvation to not just non Catholics, but non Christians and even, at least in certain cases, atheists. Friday, May 24, 2013
Eric Holder Must Resign Over the James Rosen Matter The latest revelation concerning the scandals now consuming the Obama Administration is that Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the seizure of Fox Reporter James Rosen's emails as part of a leak investigation, according to NBC News. Obama Wants to Appease the Jihadis and Address Their Grievances President Obama's recent speech on national security was part attempt to distract the media and the American people from the scandals consuming his administration and part attempt to appease both the domestic left and the jihadi enemy. The Drive to Include Gays in Scouting May Be Just the Beginning The news that the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America has lifted the ban on openly gay scouts by 60 percent elicits the initial reaction, "Good for them and past time too." But, as Mary Katherine Ham at Hot Air suggests, it's not that simple. Thursday, May 23, 2013
IRS Scandal, Coverup Could Have Affected the 2012 Election The UK Daily Mail reports that the IRS's own internal probe of the policy of harassment of tea party and conservative groups ended in May, 2012. But the results of the investigation were concealed from Congress and the American people. Jihadist Butcher of British Soldier Symptom of Larger Problem in Europe The UK Daily Mail reports that a British soldier was run down in the streets of Woolwich, a neighborhood in south-east London, by two men who then proceeded to hack his body, attempting to behead him, shouting, "Allah-uh-akbar!" Was the IRS's Lois Lerner Too Clever by Half in Taking the Fifth? Hit Air has a pretty good account about how Lois Lerner, a key player in the unfolding IRS scandal, may or may not have invoked her 5th Amendment rights during testimony before the House Government Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Wednesday, May 22, 2013
IRS Scandal Sparks Call to Delay Obamacare The Washington Examiner reports that Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. has asked two Obama cabinet officials to suspend the implementation of the health care reform law, also known as Obamacare, pending the resolution of the IRS scandals. Howard Dean: Benghazi Controversy a 'Laughable Joke' Howard Dean, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former governor of Vermont, and former presidential candidate, termed the whole controversy over Benghazi a "laughable joke" according to the National Review. Obama Justice Department Targeting of Fox News Report Shows Contempt for First Amendment When the New Yorker reported that Obama's Justice Department had seized the phone records and emails of James Rosen, a Fox News reporter, that news alarmed some elements of the mainstream media, such as the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson. Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Opposition to Genetically Modified Food Based on Hysteria The news that Hungary has ordered fields of genetically modified corn is distressing on a number of levels, not the least of which, as the Wall Street Journal points out, there is no evidence that GM food is harmful whatsoever. Public Relations Beside the Point in the IRS Scandal Politico suggests that both the IRS and the White House are mishandling the scandal caused by the tax agency's abuse of tea party and other groups from a public relations standpoint. The premise of the article is correct, but misses the point. In the Wake of the Moore, Oklahoma Tornado, Politics Rears Its Ugly Head The reaction of most people when confronted with a natural disaster of the enormity of the tornado that ravaged the town of Moore, Oklahoma is to set aside all quarrels and speed aid and comfort to the victims as quickly as possible. Unfortunately a few people are taking the opportunity to take political shots. Monday, May 20, 2013
European Olive Oil Open Container Ban Aggravates Euro-skepticism The International Herald Tribune reports that the European Union is about to institute a ban on restaurants serving olive oil in dipping bowls or refillable jugs. Henceforth olive oil will be served in sealed, non reusable containers. Rand Paul Must Walk Tightrope in 2016 Bid for the Presidency Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky continues to lay the ground work for a possible run for the presidency in 2016 by headlining a state Republican dinner in New Hampshire, the first in the nation primary state, according to the Washington Times. Anti-IRS Protests to Be a Show of Tea Party Strength The Washington Examiner reports that the Tea Party Patriots, the largest umbrella organization of tea party activists, is calling for a nation-wide protest against the IRS on Tuesday, May 21, at noon local time. Sunday, May 19, 2013
Obama's IRS Has Made the Tea Party More Powerful Than Can Be Imagined Craig Shirley, writing in Townhall, suggests that the tea party is in the unique position of having been both victimized by the federal government and hence vindicated by the same. Whoever sicced the IRS on the tea party will likely regret it. Mia Love Risks More Racist Attacks in Her Second Congressional Bid Mia Love, the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, has announced that she will run a second time for Congress in the Utah 4th District against the man who beat her narrowly in 2012, Jim Matheson, according to the Deseret News. Bill Maher and Michael Moore Defines Treason in a Curious Way Bill Maher, the HBO ranter, and Michael Moore, the radical film maker, were on the former's show "Real Time" recently and expressed a rather unique definition of treason. Apparently people who oppose President Obama are traitors. Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Left Really was Anti-Bush and Not so Much Anti-War Marc Lamont Hill, an academic, commentator, journalist, author, activist, and television personality, who occasionally spars with Bill O'Reilly, made an astonishing admission via a tweet according to Twitchy. Angelina Jolie's Mastectomy Highlights Need for More Cancer Research The first hundred or so times I saw a story about how Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, the better to avoid getting breast cancer to which she is genetically predisposed, I was impressed. Now I wish we could just move on. Now the IRS Wants to Know What We're Praying About The Washington Examiner recounts an exchange during a recent hearing between Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill. and the soon to be former IRS acting commissioner Stephen Miller that captures the Kafkaesque nature of the IRS scandal. Friday, May 17, 2013
How Disney's Makeover of 'Brave's' Red Haired Merida was Turned Back As scandals go, the attempt by Disney to "girlify" red haired Merida, the heroine in last year's film "Brave," doesn't much tip the importance scale next to Benghazi and the IRS. But it was, nevertheless, irritating. Astonishingly, Homeland Security Treats Islamists with More Forbearance Than Right Wingers The Daily Caller has uncovered a couple of memos that shows how the Department of Homeland Security views conservatives as opposed to how it views Islamic extremists. The contrast cannot be more startling. Former IRS Director of Tax Exempt Organizations Now in Charge of Obamacare Hot Air reports that a career civil servant named Sarah Hall Ingram is the director of the IRS's Affordable Care Act Office, in effect the chief enforcer of Obamacare. Aside from the fact that such an office exists, this should fill everyone with foreboding. Thursday, May 16, 2013
Obama Scandals May Bring About the End of Big Government David Axelrod, the former political consigliere to President Obama, tried to excuse the president for allowing the various scandals to get out of control because the government is "too vast" for any one man to control, he said more than he knew. Steven Miller's Head Will Not Be the Only One of an IRS Employee to Roll Steven Miller, the acting IRS Commissioner, is the first casualty of the scandal surrounding the IRS's targeting of tea party and other conservative groups. Despite President Obama's public announcement of Miller's resignation, he will not be the last. Benghazi Emails Raises More Questions Than it Answers Stephen Hayes, writing in the Weekly Standard, notes that the 94 pages of Benghazi related emails provided by the Obama Administration confirms the White House and State Department role in altering the infamous talking points. |