Obama's MSM Makeover

This Time Magazine cover is from November 2008, shortly after Obama was elected into office:



And this one is the new Time cover for February 2011:



I'm wondering what the nuances of this media makeover are. Obama's base despises Reagan. One of the local 'old media' writers here even went so far as to write a book belittling Conservatives for 'distorting the Reagan legacy.' (I'm assuming he's representative of most of the MSM as he's an unabashed Obamatron and a 'journalist' for a large, urban paper all rolled into one...and they complain that Fox News is biased!)

So is this the MSM admitting that the majority of the country admires Ronald Reagan and his legacy?

USA Today says Obama is moving to the middle. HuffPo claims he's moving to the middle...but no Conservative think tanks are buying it as far as I can tell. Is this a concerted shift in the media to help Obama kick off his 2012 bid...or, is this the MSM actually highlighting that Obama is going to TRY and feign a Clintonian move to the center to hornswoggle Americans into voting him into a second term?

And that being said, Red State has a post on a subject near and dear to my heart, We Need A Conservative Not Mitt Romney. No Romney in 2012. It's my greatest fear. It's the way the GOP operates. Always nominating the last election's cast off. Romney is NOT the way to ensure a one term Obama.

JFK & Me?

You Are Most Like John F. Kennedy

You live a fairy tale life that most people envy. And while you may have a few dark secrets, few people know them.

What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

So this might be the most ridiculous quiz thus far... Other than wanting to sleep with Marilyn, I'm quite sure Jack and I had nothing in common ;)

Sorry Egypt, Sympathy Fatigue

I can't seem to muster up any feelings for what's going on in Egypt --and my only real thought during the 24/7 coverage has been, 'Thank God that I was born here...thank GOD I live in a country where the thought of parading through the streets with a dead body is unheard of even in the worst and poorest parts of the country!'

This is an email from a friendly lefty that used to come around these parts of the blog'o'sphere...RBP. He said I could post his email since I am obviously experiencing sympathy fatigue...

"Hey Blondie,

I think our country has to support the people on the street first and foremost. From the cold war and on to the war on terror our country has to often supported dictators who did our bidding. But we should walk the walk as well as talk the talk on this one. We can't be afraid that every country is going to love us or not. The populations of those countries need to decide for themselves what is right for their country. Is this not the Bush doctrine of "spreading democracy?" I don't want a fundamentalist regime to take over in Cairo. But I don't think, at least for the time being that is what is happening now on the street. What do you think? To me and from what I've read and seen, this seems to be a populist uprising directed specifically at Mubarak. Now what comes after him? I don't know. But I'm hopeful at least for now. Are you?

rp

Do I have to care?

Toning Down the Rhetoric

“[The Republican successes in the 2010 elections] happened for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States. It happened because the Southern states, the slaveholding states, didn’t want to see a president who was opposed to slavery.

"In this case, I believe, a lot of people in the United States don’t want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is liberal, who wants to spend money and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society….” ~Rep. Jim Moran D-VA (SOURCE)

Even worse than believing this and saying it, is saying it to an Arab-language station. What this guy and other's of his ilk don't comprehend is belittling the 2010 elections and the Tea Party movement either means you really don't get that people are concerned about our country (not the color of the man leading it) or you do indeed get it and would jeopardize the country by diminishing it to keep your party in office... Either option is disheartening and yes, I'll say it...un-Patriotic.

And we won't even get into Meghan McCain...the poor man's Whitney Thompson.

Personally, I don't care about the tone of the rhetoric. I've said for years that I think all is fair in patriotism and politics...BUT, if you're the party out there preaching Hug O War --don't turn around and spew crap like this. You hypocrites.

So, if you're bored this weekend and feel like messin' with the worst of them... The liars, the dis-information spreaders, the misinformed...You can find a lot of them here.

Muslim Backlash

...or should I say backlash against Muslims in Germany. A new book released that claims Muslims have weighted down the welfare rolls and dumbed down the schools has been giving frustrated Germans a reason to let out pent up anger.

"...A bitter debate continues to dominate German talk shows over whether the nation’s 4.2 million Muslims are dragging the nation down, a charge made by a work published last year that argues the nation’s growing minority is bleeding the welfare budget and lowering the intelligence of German society.

“Germany is Doing Away With Itself,” written by Thilo Sarrazin, a former member of the German Central Bank, has already sold more than a million copies. And while the book has been repudiated by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, there’s no question it has hit a very raw nerve in German society.

“When I go on talk shows and we discuss the book, callers say ‘I’m not a Neo-Nazi, or a Nazi, but this book has finally allowed me to tell you that the Muslims in this country are here to get welfare and they don’t want to accept our values,' ” Wolfgang Benz, the former head of the center for anti-Semitic research at the Technical University in Berlin, told FoxNews.com. “The scholarship is awful in this book, but the guy at my gas station, who didn’t read it, thinks it’s great, and so do many others who find out what it says about the Muslims. Their pent-up feelings come out.”

Germans are now openly discussing the failure to integrate Muslims, a problem that has been largely ignored for decades..." (Read the whole story)

We have talked here in the past about Germany's permissive ways giving way to many of the 9/11 hijackers. And as much as we understand that after the Holocaust they are weary about singling out any group for anything...maybe they could look at shutting down Islamofascism as small way to start repaying the Jews and the world for WWII...

I fear this is our fate also. This country has gone so far out of it's way to be tolerant that we have bred the likes of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. And there will be more.

I don't know how you shut down the fanatics without the moderates being caught in the sweep...Which is why most Conservatives say it is up to those 'moderate Muslims' to be the ones to turn in their brethren instead of making excuses for them...

Caption It...

(it's Hillary btw...)

An Inconvenient Foot of Snow

Those are not reeds blocking the view of my snow covered back yard...that is snow still pelting down at a record pace. Earlier today they said 5-10 inches, but we're easily at a foot already with no slowing in sight.

I am calling on Al Gore to be at my house to help shovel in the morning. It's the least he can do right now...

(This morning's total: 15.1 inches)

Confessions of a Backslidden Blogger

So, I feel I must admit, I didn't watch the State of the Union for the first time in over 12 years...

I know the state of the union. I just couldn't stomach hearing how we need to be more civil and work together more. I couldn't sit there and watch the facade of a political move to the middle to garner 2012 votes.

And, the Flyers were in the midst of schooling the Habs. I know I'm a political blogger...but I have three boys. Imagine turning off a game against bitter rivals for political blathering... They would have missed a 5-2 win and a P.K. Suban spanking. Then what kind of mom would I be?

When I look through the SOTU news, I keep finding articles such as this:

"Democrats and Republicans sat together. Applause breaks were shorter and more subdued. Booing and heckling were nonexistent. And the president took pains to appeal to both sides." (SOURCE)

I'm wondering if it came across as this cozy to everyone that isn't employed by the Associated Press...

But, much more provocative to me than the SOTU was the Oprah announcement. I know everyone is bellyaching about how she's once again exploiting for her own gain...but Oprah isn't really the story here. It's the half-sister. Many adopted kids have fantasies that one of the biologial parents that gave them up was someone famous (even Marilyn Monroe believed that Clark Gable was her father). And here's this women that languished in foster homes for the first years of her life, became a teen mom and then struggled for years to support two children on her own working two and three jobs...and one day she realizes that Oprah Winfrey is her half sister. I'm no Oprah fan by any means...but this is a cool story...

Other than that, thank the Lord for Global Warming! It's been like 9° here and snowing every other day...I guess without GW it would be -10°...

The Fairness Doctrine Begins?

Glenn Beck's show has been cancelled here in Philly (WPHT) as of January 17th. It has also been cancelled in New York (WOR NY) as of the 14th. Sean Hannity has also been taken off the air here in the 8th largest radio market in the country.

The radio station (The Big Talker 1210 am) is owned by CBS and claim they are "making the lineup more local." This is a total crock as one of the Beck replacements is from Kansas ( Chris Stigall ?). How is that LOCAL? They have also given Obama-endorser Michael Smerconsih Sean's spot with Rush's lead in.

WOR NY cites "ratings" as a reason for the show's cancellation. But, according to Arbitron, Glenn is the third most listened to talk radio show in the country.

So if wanting LOCAL talent is a lie and low RATINGS is a lie...what's the REAL REASON?

Now, I understand that Glenn is pissed. He basically started The Glenn Beck Program here on 1210 am. It was this city that gave him the audience that opened up the other doors (CNN and eventually FNC), so reading about his rant on Philly the other day did annoy me--though I hope it was just venting. Then to see on his website:

"Stay in Touch: Don’t despair New York, there are plenty of ways to get your Glenn Beck fix..."

New York? What about Philly Glenn? Don't take it out on us. We were your first big Conservative talk audience. The folks that cancelled you probably don't even LIVE HERE --they're probably CBS execs living in NYC... There are pages and pages of comments on every article about this here from Conservatives and Beck listeners vowing to banish WPHT from their radio pre-sets.

Anyway, despite his slight lapse in judgment while talking smack about Philly, he is offering the radio show streamed live until new stations can be procured.

I am curious if there are other stations around the country that have yanked Sean and/or Glenn. I have a bad feeling this is a trend that we'll be seeing. That the Arizona shootings will be used an excuse to justify blatant censorship of Conservative ideals... that the Fairness Doctrine will indeed come to fruition through actions if not formally through legislation...

Celebrated Signage...

Have you seen the heralded placard that is making it's rounds amongst the Lefties on Facebook? I have posted many of the "best" Tea Party signs here and they have been damn funny... I have always admitted when something/someone on the other side of the aisle makes me laugh (like the Obama/Hillary 'Bros before Hos' shirts) --but this? This is getting the fanfare?



Though, I indeed may be biased -as people invoking Jesus that don't even believe in him has always irked me. And I guess they shouldn't let the fact that the Bible is the most war-laiden book out there ruin their little anti-tea party fest... Funny, it was making the rounds of my lefty friends yesterday and I kept thinkinng...they might as well have posted a sign that said, "Obviously, I've never read the Bible and have no idea what Jesus taught!"

If THIS lame sign is the BEST they have to offer --we TOTALLY win the funny/witty war! ;)

No Wrongdoing by the Children? What About Their Parents?

"A teacher at a California primary school has been suspended amid shocking claims that children engaged in oral sex and took off their clothes in class.

Pupils aged just seven or eight are believed to engaged in the acts at Markham Elementary School in Oakland last week. The male second-grade teacher, whose name has not been released, told investigators he did not see any of the alleged incidents.

Mr Flint stressed that none of the pupils was accused of wrongdoing.

'It's an incident of kids expressing their natural curiosity that went too far because an adult didn't step in,' he said." (SOURCE)

Really? No wrongdoing? Natural curiosity at SEVEN? I didn't even know a penis was called a 'penis' until THIRD grade (before a girlfriend told me in the school bathroom, it was just 'the snake.') I didn't know what oral sex was until middle school (maybe high school).

Oral sex in the classroom in SECOND GRADE? I'm thinking the parents should be subject to serious psychiatric interviews and possibly criminal questioning. When I first heard this, innocent curiosity was the furthest thing from my mind. I was thinking, 'well, now they know that these kids have been/are being sexually abused. Am I alone in being shocked at how this is all being put on the teacher? Not absolving him by any means...but he didn't raise these kids... Oral sex at 7?! Ugh, makes me sick to my stomach...

I'm Not Down With Censorship, BUT...

Have you seen MTV's newest series, Skins? Everyone keeps talking about the sex in it...

"To give you an idea of what we're talking about here, a character named Chris (Jesse Carere) wakes up with an erection clearly visible through his briefs, goes to urinate and sprays himself in the face. He ends up urinating in the bathtub, wrapped in a shower curtain. We see a label for something called "Erectagra" and his erection becomes a running gag for much of the episode...." (SOURCE)

There are charges of 'child porn'...which might seem a bit overboard. But then you Google Skins and Drugs. Geez.

...but that wasn't what shocked me most. The absolute glorification of drugs floored me. (And yes, this is why I keep up with pop culture...so I know what my kids are watching...)

With addiction galloping through The Man's family, drug use and experimentation is on my mind a lot as my two oldest are soon to be teens. Since they were small I have told them true-life stories of what happens when boy meets beer. I have made them watch A&E's Intervention with me for years.

I love Intervention. It shows the ugly truth of drug use. The disgusting teeth. The embarrassing/illegal acts. The horrid complexion. The absence of hygiene. The violence. The absence of loyalty.

Normally, I am the one saying 'even if we don't like this, it has the right to be on.' But this time...ugh. This show could serve to undo so much that parents have done... I was more than happy to hear that big companies were pulling their cash/advertising from the show (Taco Bell, General Motors and H&R Block).

And maybe MTV does have the right to have this show on the air. And maybe it is my job as a parent to say my kids can't watch it and then simultaneously stand in front of all six televisions in the house to make sure they comply. ...But after all the props I gave MTV for 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom (two shows showing the REALITY of poor life decisions) --they go and destroy that credibility with a show that so blatantly glorifies things that can/will kill their target audiences...

Caption It...

Are You a Radical?

You Are 40% Politically Radical

You've got a few unusual political ideas, but overall you're a pretty mainstream person. Chances are that you're turned off by both the radical right and looney left.

Are You a Political Radical?

Women in Combat, Cont.

Should women be allowed to serve in combat units? Last week, the Military Leadership Diversity commission, said yes. If approved by the Defense Department, this could be the second large change in policy, following the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell just a few weeks ago. American Women Veterans' Genevieve Chase and BLACKFIVE's Jim Hanson debate.

The New American Military?

"Following a dramatic and eloquent speech, on Dec. 22 President Obama signed the legislation that will launch the repeal of a 17-year-old law that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military." source

"Gay service members who have been unceremoniously – and unwillingly – removed from careers that they loved now hope to go back into service, after President Barack Obama signed into law the repeal of the DADT policy that cost them their military service." source

"A high-level military commission is set to recommend that the Pentagon reverse its long-standing policy that bars women from being in combat. Hundreds of thousands of women are currently serving in the U.S. military, and many of them are in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon's policy, women are, and always have been, barred from taking part in any ground combat operations. But in reality, women are already in the thick of the fight — and an upcoming report will recommend that the Pentagon acknowledge the reality on the ground and allow women to be assigned to combat units." source

"So as the Pentagon prepares to welcome openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members for the first time, Sandeen is not alone in hoping the United States will one day join the seven other nations - Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, the Czech Republic, Thailand and Australia - that allow transgender troops. "There is really no question, it's just a matter of when," said former Army Capt. Allyson Robinson, 40, a 1994 West Point graduate who has spoken to sociology classes at the alma mater she attended as a male cadet. "There are active-duty, as well as reserve and national guard transgender service members, serving today." source

Caption It...

Individual Rights VS. Collective Safety

It seems this will be the dilemma as we head forward. Actually, I guess this has been the dilemma since 9/11....hence the Patriot Act.

Last week we spoke about the conundrum of reporting someone 'on a bad feeling' and then the subsequent 'why didn't anyone report him' cry from the public when something does happen.

It's playing out again in the court here in Pennsylvania:

"A 21-year-old loner from Armstrong County had an arsenal in his bedroom, a radical Islamist online persona and videos suggesting paramilitary training before his arrest last week for biting two FBI agents, federal prosecutors charged in court Thursday.

Emerson W. Begolly "has a strong desire to kill non-Muslims and many other groups of people," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song. "He was preparing, and he was getting closer and closer to bringing his words and aspirations to fruition."


Federal public defense lawyer Marketa Sims, representing Mr. Begolly, countered that his actions before agents startled him -- legally owning guns, posting unpopular views online -- were constitutionally protected. "They had no probable cause to believe that he committed any crime." (SOURCE)

Again, this is a kid that obviously has some mental problems (and I'm not just saying that because he's a white kid that converted to Islam). I did a bit more reading and found that before his jihad obsession -he had a penchant for Nazis.

So the dilemma remains...what can be done? Luckily he bit the FBI agents so they can hold him for something tangible...but what then? Court-mandated lithium?

There's a kid that looks like this in my local Whole Foods...little, rich, libby white kid wearing a gross, straggly beard, crocheted skull cap and pants cut off above the ankles. I want to give him my email address and ask him to write me about how embarrassed he is by this phase ten years from now...

Congress & the Constitution

Back in October I posted a link to a pretty comprehensive Constitution Quiz. I'm an 'average citizen' right? College educated, stay at home mom, married mother of three... I Scored a 10/10 the main test and a 44/50 (B+) on the Advanced test.

So, I'm assuming our elected officials would blow our scores away...these are the people being elected and PAID to legislate according to this document...

"The survey asks 33 basic civics questions, many taken from other nationally recognized instruments like the U.S. Citizenship Exam. It also asks 10 questions related to the U.S. Constitution.

So what did we find? Well, to put it simply, the results are not pretty.

Elected officials at many levels of government, not just the federal government, swear an oath to "uphold and protect" the U.S. Constitution.

But those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question. Examples:

Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.

Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war -- 54 percent of the general public knows that.

Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase "wall of separation" appears in Thomas Jefferson's letters -- not in the U.S. Constitution -- compared with 19 percent of the general public.

And only 57 percent of those who've held elective office know what the Electoral College does, while 66 percent of the public got that answer right. (Of elected officials, 20 percent thought the Electoral College was a school for "training those aspiring for higher political office.")

Overall, our sample of elected officials averaged a failing 44 percent on the entire 33-question test, 5 percentage points lower than the national average of 49 percent." (SOURCE)

The Quiz they used.

How is MLK Remembered?

“Reverend Sharpton, you’re saying that my uncle sought help from government. I say, no, my uncle sought help from God, so that the people elected to govern would seek help from God,” said Dr. Alveda King (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's niece). “When we look to government, I believe we’re diluting the source of strength from which our power comes.” (SOURCE)

“In advising men and women on questions of personal behavior 50 years ago, Uncle Martin sounded no different than a conservative Christian preacher does now,” said Dr. Alveda King. “He was pro-life, pro-abstinence before marriage, and based his views on the unchanging Word of the Bible. Today, Planned Parenthood would condemn Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as part of the ‘religious right.’” (SOURCE)

This morning I was remembering the first time I was assigned to read Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I was 16 and there was no preconceived notions...no political agenda. And I was moved. Impressed with this man that seemed not to waiver despite what what thrown at him. Impressed he never seemed to impart a victim mentality. I remember the concept of 'just and unjust laws' and 'non-violent civil disobedience' reaffirming my support of blocking the doors to abortion clinics. I remember thinking he would be proud of those being jailed to save the innocent... Even back then I remember wondering if he would have been a member of Operation Rescue...

Caption It...

The American People Come Through

I was worried that the majority of Americans would buy into the whole 'Sarah Palin and the Conservatives caused this shooting' line being sold to them by the MSM.

I figured the average Joe wouldn't take the time to find out that Jared Lee Loughner was on a rampage since 2007...long before Palin was a thought in any of our minds. Or that he was a fan of the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. Or that he was a major pot head that thought the government was behind the attacks on 9/11.

I don't know what your local print media is peddling, but the Philadelphia Inquirer is still praising Sheriff Dupnik. I was actually compelled to email this women my rebuttal...and I haven't done that in ages...

But, despite all the misinformation being disseminated... the American public isn't buying the left's line.

The latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll:

A 53% majority of those surveyed call that analysis mostly an attempt to use the tragedy to make conservatives look bad. About a third, 35%, say it is a legitimate point about how dangerous language can be.

And there is little sense that stricter gun control laws in Arizona might have averted the tragedy. Only one in five say they would have prevented the shooting; 72% say tighter controls wouldn't have prevented it. (SOURCE)

Those rushing to immediately enact strict gun restrictions should remember that Joseph Zamudio had the where-with-all and nerve to run to the scene and subdue the suspect because he was carrying a gun...

I feel like just his drastic change in appearance should have been a tip off...

Could Obama Have Done Right In Our Eyes?

Here are my thoughts...

The Positive:

Obama's speech yesterday was a really good one. It was the right tone. He put in there that this shooting was NOT a result of political speech (and that wasn't in his prepared remarks). It was nice to see some genuine emotion from him.

The Negatives:

The speech was a few days too late in terms of telling his party to stop taking advantage of a tragedy.

The speech probably should have been given the next day from the Oval Office.

My mom disagrees, but the cheering seemed inappropriate to me. I am not blaming Obama for that --I think he too was surprised to be interrupted 50+ times. I think a separate "come together" event would have been fine, but a memorial service doesn't seem to be the place for cheering...IMO. But, my mom thinks it was in celebration of the heroes of the day and seemed fine to her...

Obama's interaction with Sheriff Dupnik was an example of actions speaking louder than words. He gave a speech telling people not to use political blame and then thanked the sheriff that let the warning signs slip and then started the political firestorm. Obama was probably in an awkward position as far as that meet/greet was concerned, but I think it was a bad move.

What non-political types don't seem to get it that we aren't just going to be overly critical because it's Obama and the opposing party --but because we're raw from days of being falsely skewered on every mainstream news outlet. I have really had to turn off TVs and hide people's FB statuses...

So yeah, the speech was nice, but like they said about Bush's Katrina efforts --maybe too little too late...

Caption It...

When To Report Someone?

"T]wo law enforcement sources said that FBI agents had found a 2007 letter from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) to the shooting suspect, with the words "Die, bitch" and "Die, cops" scrawled on it. The letter, which thanked [Jared] Loughner for attending an event of hers, was found in a safe in his Tuscon home, the sources said.

In 2007, there was no Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin was the obscure, recently elected governor of Alaska. If anything, the overhead heated political rhetoric at the time was coming from the left and was directed largely at President George W. Bush. It is time for all those whose reflexive reaction was to capitalize on this tragedy by blaming their political opponents (eg. the New York Times editorial page, the Daily Kos and Paul Krugman) to start issuing some apologies. They can start with Sarah Palin." (SOURCE)

As the MSM (namely CBS and NBC) continues to link the horrific shooting spree in Arizona to Sarah Palin, we should talk about the actual problem here. When do you report a colleague, neighbor, relative or friend that is exhibiting odd behavior? How many "weird things" constitute a call to a police officer?

The Man and I have had two neighbors that seem comparable to Jared Loughner. If either ended up on the news, neither of us would be in the least surprised. YET, we never had anything TANGIBLE to call authorities about. Bad feelings, odd noises, strange hours of operation...but nothing illegal.

And once I did call Philly's Child Protective Services about a couple that was shooting heroin with their kid in the house and putting wine cooler in his bottle and do you know what I was told? There had to be a prior police report before they could take my report?! Really...I thought my call was so we could avoid a police report.

That experience made me more than reluctant to delve into the bureaucracy of preemptive telephone calls.

The reports coming out about this kid's lunacy seem never ending. But this 20/20 hindsight had a high death toll. It seems he's been pining about Giffford since 2007 (long before Sarah Palin was a blip on the political radar)... Kicked out of college... Numerous campus police calls... skull shrines... email suggesting students were scared he was to be the next Dylan Klebold...

So when do we know to make the call?

At the end of the day, is Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik (one of the first to turn this tragedy into a political firestorm) the one to ultimately blame for ignoring the repeated blips from this kid on his radar?

The Donald in 2012?

"He was reportedly telling friends over the recent holidays, when Rod Stewart was among guests for a lavish New Year's Eve party at his Palm Beach estate, that he will "definitely" make a White House run as a Republican.

He confided that he would make the announcement after The Apprentice finishes its current season in spring, according to Ronald Kessler, the well-respected chief reporter of the conservative political website Newsmax..." (SOURCE)

The good news for Mr. Trump?

"President Obama's reelection in 2012 won't be easy, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus says.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), the new chairman of the CBC, told the group IMPACT to expect a bruising fight to secure the president a second term.

"It's realistic for our party to understand the enormous challenge we're going to have, to get him back in the White House in 2012," Cleaver told the group..." (SOURCE)

I don't know enough about Trump's personal views to even venture an opinion on this. I do know he didn't like Bush and voted for Obama...so that doesn't bode well for him in my eyes... At least Justin Bieber has made his long-time running joke hair somewhat fashionable...he'll have to make him VP for accomplishing that.

Caption It...

Jared Loughner is not a RIGHT WINGER

The above map is from the website of the Democratic Leadership Council. "Targeting strategy" "Behind Enemy lines...?"

Even FNC keeps letting people label this guy a right winger and talk about how he was motivated by right-wing hate speech against Obamacare, stimulus, etc. Now Rep. Bill Brady wants frivolous legislation that would make it illegal to put a target on a map. That law WOULD NOT HAVE STOPPED this kid. He wasn't browsing through SarahPac.

Unlike the MSM and most of my liberal friends, I decided to read through about 100 news stories on this kid before I made any proclamations. Well, now I'm making them. Jared Loughner's ramblings are fairly devoid of politics. Some of the LEFT WING blogs caught wind of a statement made about American currency not being backed by gold and aligned that with a Gordon Liddy commercial perhaps...and assumed that made him a right winger? No, his theory is actually that there was a secret plan with American money to allow "social elites and bureaucrats could control the rest of the world."

He was a conspiracy theorist. A 9/11 Truther. A pot head. Someone that attended literature festivals. An avowed atheist.

He seems to be much more concerned with linguistics than politics.

Brady's bill would have done nothing.

Sarah Palin's map OR the DNC's map with targets (shown) meant nothing.

This was not a political shooting.

This kid is probably bi-polar or schizophrenic.

Let's be divided when it comes to ideology that we seriously disagree on.

Let's not inflate tragedies and assign motives that just aren't there.

It distracts from the tragedy.

It distracts from Congresswoman Gifford's fight for life.

And, worse than that, it's a lie.

Guest Post by Free0352

JGFP deplores the terrible actions against Rep. Gifford. Our sympathy and prayers go out to the victims families and we hope justice will be served. JGFP in no way encourages or condones violent or antisocial behavior, and would not be associated with those that do....

...er wait... stop the presses. Hold it. Hold it! HOLD IT!

No body at JGFP shot any body did they? I should know, JGFP is one guy, and I'd know if I had. In fact, I haven't' done anything wrong at all have I?! I don't have anything to do with this woman's murder... nothing at all! WHY THEN SHOULD I APOLOGIZE FOR HER KILLING?

I'm so irritated this congresswoman got shot. Now for months on end we're going to hear all the libs cry and whine that the evil Tea Baggers are violent psychopaths out to kill everybody and that they're all Hitler just because two wack jobs pulled off a hit.

So much for watching any other story on the news for six weeks....
It's already starting.

There is reason to believe, he said during the news conference, that the shooting suspect "may have a mental issue," adding that people like that "are especially susceptible to vitriol."

"That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences," he said.
-Some Random Sheriff in Arizona.

Well guess what Sheriff? I got news for ya. Political "vitriol" didn't kill Rep Gifford. A crazy person did. Free speech doesn't turn people crazy. Debate doesn't turn people crazy. Stop making excuses for these criminals as to why they did what they did. Why not instead of crying about "vitriol" you go find the accomplice to this murder? I engage in quite a bit of "vitriol" myself there Sheriff and guess what? I don't bear one ounce of responsibility for this CRIME at all. Not. One. Bit. Stop linking me and a whole movement of millions to her murder... asshole. Fuck you.

Just so that we won't apear to give in to the will of murderers, lunatics and left wing journalists; we here at JGFP will be turning our rhetoric and "vitriol" up to ELEVEN for the next few weeks because we all know all we're going to hear for a while is- "GUNS ARE EVIL. REPUBLICANS ARE MEAN AND ENCOURAGE THEIR CRAZY BASE TO MURDER!" and I won't be intimidated by left wing douche-baggery.

It won't matter when all the Tea Party groups line up and apologize for something they didn't even do. I can hear the statements now-

Tea Party Nation deplores the terrible actions against Rep. Gifford. Our sympathy and prayers go out to the victims families and we hope justice will be served. Tea Party Nation in no way encourages or condones violent or antisocial behavior
- and despite this inevitable statement which shouldn't even be required because anyone with a shred of common sense already knows this, the libs will scream "Blaaaah blaaah murdering Tea Bagger, Racist, Militia, Redneck blaaah blaaah!"

...Just like they always do.

They're already blabbing on about how Palin's "crosshairs" campaign caused these criminals to get voting and shooting people confused. Seriously.

It's sooooooo irritating. And predictable. And typical. And weak.

(You can read Free daily at John Galt for President)

____________________________________________
Noteworthy (from the comments):

From Markos' Daily Kos:
(Via HIllBuzz)

“My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!” — eerie Daily Kos hit piece on Gabrielle Giffords just two days before assassination attempt; repeated use of word “dead” in relation to Giffords just 48 hours before she and a dozen others were fired upon. UPDATE: Daily Kos scrubs “dead to me” thread but screengrabs document everything; UPDATE: school classmates and former friends describe shooter Jared Lee Loughner as committed Leftist."

Read this WHOLE article b/c I guarantee you won't hear it on CNN!!!

(H/T: Steve in Tulsa)

Also from Daily Kos:



(H/T: Zelda)

Hockey and Super Heroes!

Marvel creator Stan Lee has created 30 new super heroes (well, 29 and some Penguin thing)...one for each NHL team. This, of course, is the coolest one. They are part of The Guardian Project (the NHL's newest publicity stunt --which is fine because it combines two of my favorite things...) and will be fully revealed at the All Star game in Raleigh on January 30th.

Free Speech? Not Really.

My 12 year old and I were recently arguing about whether there was actually free speech in America. He said his teacher said there was and I told him to go down to 30th Street station -or the airport- and yell "bomb."

I'll have to let him read this story when he gets home today:

"UFC lightweight Jacob Volkmann, following his UFC 125 win over Antonio McKee, declared that he wanted to fight President Barack Obama for his next fight.

His words got him a visit from the Secret Service on Tuesday.

That comment got the government’s attention, as just days later, the Secret Service came to chat with the fighter.

“It happened on Tuesday, I was coaching youth practice, and then two guys came up and one of the other coaches that was helping me out, they said there was a cop and another guy out there waiting for me,” Volkmann told MMAWeekly.com. “I went out there and the guy introduced himself and said he was from the Secret Service and he wanted to ask me some questions about UFC 125 and my quote. He said there were people calling in to D.C. telling them that somebody, me, was threatening the President.” (SOURCE)

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Bachmann 2012?

I heard yesterday that Michele Bachmann's people said nothing was off the table for 2012 and that she was heading up to Iowa to speak with party leaders.

She's only been in Congress since 2007. State Senate before that. Actually her Congressional bio reads a bit like Obama's did...

She's a lawyer.

But, that being said, she does have some pretty attractive qualities also. She's a real conservative --not someone that switching on the issues just to get in on the Tea Party momentum. She was raised a Democrat, yet was still working as an anti-abortion advocate before she switched parties. AND, like my family, hers isn't just against abortion but put her time and money where her mouth was and took in 23 foster kids in addition to her 5 biological children (actually, that's almost identical to my family...)

"Bachmann had grown up in a Democratic family, but says she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State. She told the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel, Burr: "He was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought, 'I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.' (SOURCE)

As far as political ideology, the only thing on paper I can find to disagree with her on is her support of DOMA.

But, once again, experience is the stickler. I prefer a governor to a senator... Though, unlike Obama she HAS "run something." Her and her husband own a Christian counseling center.

The Left despises her --which is a good sign.

Though this article implies that she is being shunned by the mainstream of the party.

Obama Hearts Michael Vick?

"Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was surprised to hear the president's voice on the phone. Barack Obama had two things to discuss with Lurie: the redemption of Michael Vick and the alternative-energy plans Lurie unveiled this fall for Lincoln Financial Field. I talked about the Vick story on NBC last night.
"The president wanted to talk about two things, but the first was Michael,'' Lurie told me. "He said, 'So many people who serve time never get a fair second chance. He was ... passionate about it. He said it's never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail. And he was happy that we did something on such a national stage that showed our faith in giving someone a second chance after such a major downfall.''
Lurie said Obama and he talked football. "He's a real football fan,'' Lurie said. "He loves his Bears. He really follows it. He knew how Michael was doing. It was really interesting to hear.''(SOURCE)

For the rest of the country, the story then shifted to Tucker Carlson who said Vick should have been executed (first time PETA and Tucker were lock-step I'm sure...).

But here in Philly there's a real struggle. Eagles fans are die hard...serious, 'I'll kill you if you come in my house with a Dallas jersey' kinda fans. (Personally I don't get it...the whole defense on the field, now offense's turn is just way to annoying for me...) Lifelong Eagles fans are torn...especially since Philly is Pitbull capital of the world (<-that's surely an embellishment).

There are now three types of Eagles fans... Those so die-hard that at this point they're ready to buy Vick a dog of his own or let him kick theirs if we get to the SuperBowl.
Those that LOVE the Eagles, but have stopped watching because they just really can't stomach him.
Those, like my dad and my sis, that disapprove of what he did but still watch because they are Eagles fans...not Vick fans.

I get off easy...Vick absolutely disgusts me, but I have never been a football fan so it doesn't pose a dilemma for me... (See, with hockey's 80 regular season games the boys are too tired to beat their wives and dogs...)

The divide is serious though, as my sister found the other day when she posted a positive message about the Birds on her facebook page and promptly received 42 nasty replies from all her uber-libby, vegan minions... SO when I heard about Obama PRAISING Vick I couldn't believe she didn't post that to her page... Her anti-Vick friends are hard-core Obamatrons. I was dying to see which would prevail -love of the leper messiah or devotion to the dogs... But SHE DIDN'T POST IT. Are she and I really sisters?! ;)

Caption It...

Future of the RNC

Should Michael Steele be replaced as head of the RNC?
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

My first reaction was to say no. But then I had to admit that if he were white I would say get him outta there. I think I like having an African American at the helm as a tangible rebuttal to the inevitable 'Republicans are racist' arguments... He can go out there and slam Obama without being accused of being a secret KKK member. Having him there gives the RNC a certain amount of leeway that I don;t think it would have with some old, white dude at the top... But, we have to win in 2012 and he hasn't been a great money man... It's a dilemma...

Things You Might Have Missed in 2010

Found this article called While You Were Sleeping: 2010 and added a few of my own...

A New Trend: New Peer-reviewed paper concludes there's an "absence of correlation between temperature changes and CO2″
"The dramatic and threatening environmental changes announced for the next decades are the result of models whose main drive factor of climatic changes is the increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Although taken as a premise, the hypothesis does not have verifiable consistence. The comparison of temperature changes and CO2 changes in the atmosphere is made for a large diversity of conditions, with the same data used to model climate changes. Correlation of historical series of data is the main approach. CO2 changes are closely related to temperature." (SOURCE)

You know those freaky psychological thrillers were people are drugging tourists and removing their kidneys...that really been happening!
"Netcare, South Africa’s largest private medical group, has pleaded guilty to performing illegal kidney transplants at a hospital in Durban. Poor donors, some of them children, were flown in from Brazil and Romania and given thousands of dollars to have a kidney removed. Netcare agreed to pay fines of nearly $1.1 million. The charges are related to more than 100 operations carried out between 2001 and 2003. Those involved in the transplant scandal have been fired by Netcare.
Source: BBC"

People are so busy complaining about CEO's and Wall Street...what about college tuition and the fact that University Presidents are making $1 million year?!
"Touro College paid President Bernard Lander $4.7 million, the highest salary in the country. The president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas earned $2.7 million. Quinnipiac University in Connecticut paid its president $1.8 million. The Chronicle report predicts more presidents will surpass $1 million annual salaries as the baby boomers retire and receive large payouts.
Source: Boston Globe"

"The Troubled Assets Relief Program’s $700 billion bailout is now expected to cost the federal government $25 billion. The Congressional Budget Office’s report released on November 29 said when TARP was created in 2008 it was not apparent that the cost would turn out to be this low, but the financial system stabilized and improved. So far, $389 billion has been distributed through TARP, which expired in October. The CBO estimates that an additional $44 billion will go to American International Group and federal mortgage programs. That would bring total TARP spending to $433 billion, of which $216 billion has been repaid.
Source: Washington Post"

Gas Prices! I don;t know if it was an Urban Legend, but I recall hearing Obama wanted gas prices to stay around $4 gallon so Americans wouldn't forget about the environment?
"Five dollars per gallon of gas by 2012! A former president of Shell Oil considers this likely. The average price on Christmas Day for a gallon of regular gas reached $3.28 in Los Angeles County, the highest price since October 2008. In one month, the price rose 13 cents, up 35 cents year to year.

Where are the calls to sic Obama’s Justice Department on Big Oil to hold the oil companies accountable for “market manipulation”? Why aren’t we hunting down the amoral “oil speculators” responsible for repealing the law of supply-and-demand in order to line their pockets?" (SOURCE)

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Resolutions?

Maybe this email I received from a girlfriend across the pond will put things into perspective for 2011 :)


This woman is 51.

Gillian McKeith is a TV “health guru” advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets colonic irrigation and supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the colour of food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and faecal examination.


This woman is 50.

Nigella Lawson is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and desserts. So forget “join a gym and eat more celery”...remember "everything in moderation."

Happy New Year everyone!