American Power

Leftists Reduced to Childish Whining Amid Obama-Democratic Epic Failures

2009-11-30T05:04:00.000-08:00

James B. Webb's incessant and whiney trolling got me to thinking about how, nearly a year into the Obama administration, the radical left is still obssessed with the Bush administration, and the GOP remains the constant scapegoat for whatever happens to be the Democratic epic fail of the day.

At one of my White House gatecrasher posts yesterday, crazed JBW left a comment so totally off topic to be mind boggling:

With respect, a Republican administration is responsible for the current recession, our two open-ended and unfunded overseas wars and adding trillions to the federal deficit. The current level of outrage on the right over government spending was virtually nonexistent for eight full years before Obama took office and I find it to be the height of partisan hypocrisy.

That just creates one of those, yawn, "yeah right" moments -- especially given the existence of charts like these:

And back in May, Brian Riedl wrote that:

President Obama continues to distance himself from this "inherited" budget deficit. But the day he was inaugurated, the 2009 deficit was forecast at $1.2 trillion — meaning $600 billion has already been added during his four-month presidency (an amount that, by itself, would exceed all 2001-07 annual budget deficits). And should the president really be allowed to distance himself from the $1.2 trillion "inherited" portion of the deficit, given that as a senator he supported nearly all policies and bailouts that created it?

The president also talks of cutting the deficit in half from this bloated level. But even after the recession ends and the troops return home, he'd still run $1 trillion deficits — compared to President Bush's $162 billion pre-recession deficit. In other words, the structural budget deficit (which excludes the impacts of booms/recessions) would more than quintuple.

And even Obama not unaware of his engorgement on the budget pie. See this morning's New York Times, "Debate on Creating Jobs, Without Raising Deficit":

While stimulus measures usually are not “paid for” by spending cuts or tax increases since that would defeat the purpose of pumping money into the economy, the fact that even liberal groups now are suggesting ways to avoid adding to the deficit shows widespread acceptance of the political if not economic danger of adding to the ever-growing national debt.

Of course, no one wants to increase the size of the deficit, and no one's as better at doing so than the Obama administration and the current Democratic Congress. (See also, the Washington Post, "In Health-Care reform, No Deficit Cure," via Memeorandum.)

In any case, the other example of GOP scapegoating is the freaking unreal post yesterday on the Salahi dinner-crashers, "Before Obama Met Salahi, George Met Jack." Shorter Crooks and Liars: The virtually catastrophic state dinner gate-crashing crisis is nothing compared to George Bush's long-forgotten relationship to the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff now doing time in a federal correctional facility in Maryland, or something ...

Dumb Democrats, JBW too.

Mike Huckabee Statement on Maurice Clemmons: Suspect Wanted in Washington State Police Killings

2009-11-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

Robert Stacy McCain's on the news big time, "UPDATE: 4 Police Officers Ambushed, LATEST: Ark. Man Sought for Questioning."

But the story's taking a deeply significant political angle. See Michelle Malkin, "Violent Felon Granted Clemency by Huckabee Now Sought in Lakewood, WA Police Ambush." Also, at Confederate Yankee, "Huckabee Paroled Cop Killer."

And Mike Huckabee's statement is here, at NWCN Washington News, "Person of Interest Identified in Deaths of Officers":

"The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State. The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.

Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990. This commutation making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers."

Also at Huck Pac, "Statement Regarding Washington State Slayings."

Hat Tip: Memeorandum. See also, Legal Insurrection, "Willie Horton-ish."

Please join me in sending out a prayer to the loved ones of the officers. The Los Angeles Times has their names and pictures, "from left: Greg Richards, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Mark Renninger."

Secret Service Interviews Tareq and Michaele Salahi: Comprehensive White House Security Review Expected Soon

2009-11-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

There are two MSM reports out tonight, and out in print newspapers in the morning. From the New York Times, "Secret Service Interviews Gate-Crashers":

As part of a broadening inquiry into presidential security, Secret Service agents have interviewed the Virginia couple who sneaked into a White House state dinner last week, a senior federal official involved in the investigation said Sunday.

The interviews, which took place Friday and Saturday, were conducted in a neutral location, neither the home of the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, nor the Secret Service’s downtown offices, the official said. He would not comment on the content of the interviews or their length.

A statement on the initial Salahi investigation is due Wednesday, although the final report on the interviews is not likely to be published.

The Washington Post has a second piece on the larger Secret Service review, begun shortly after the inauguration, and due shortly for completion, "White House Security Already Under Review: NEW SCRUTINY AFTER BREACH: Inauguration Had Prompted Concerns":

The bizarre breach at the White House state dinner last week lends new urgency to a review of Secret Service procedures that was begun after President Obama's inauguration, and threatens to revive questions about how much security is enough for the country's elected leader.

A senior Secret Service official said a "top-to-bottom" review of the agency's protective department was ordered shortly after Obama began his term amid the highest threat level for any recent president. The results are due soon, said spokesman James Mackin.

But Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the Virginia couple who waltzed, uninvited, into the White House and shook hands with Obama on Tuesday night provided new evidence that in a democracy, it is far from impossible to breach the bubble of security around the chief executive.

The breakdown stunned the top aides to the first African American president and forced a rare apology from the director of the Secret Service. And it led to predictions that security around the first family will rapidly become more intense.

"A tight system will be tightened even more," said William H. Pickle Jr., a former Secret Service agent who led Al Gore's vice-presidential detail and headed Senate security from 2003 to 2007. "I would encourage the White House social office to buy umbrellas before the next event, because you can be sure the Secret Service will be doing their job, and it may be that visitors will be out there for a very long time."

Security experts called the breach an indefensible breakdown that will almost certainly lead to changes within the Secret Service, which regularly reviews procedures after incidents such as a September 1994 crash of a stolen plane on the White House grounds. At the same time, they cautioned against exaggerating any actual threat posed to Obama.

More at the link.

But see also, the Washington Times, "Senators Want Party Crashers Punished: Kyl Says Example Should Be Made of Salahi Couple."

NY Daily News Bungles Obama-Salahi Contact Timeline: Bloggers Scoop Big Media on Gatecrasher Scandal; Press AWOL on Tareq's Dubai Diplomacy!

2009-11-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

We've all done it, jumped on a story without all the facts.

But this screw up at the New York Daily News is major, since the timeline of President Obama's meet up with the Salahi gatecrashers is crucial to the further discovery of administration deception, to Obama's possible knowledge of Tareq Salahi's Middle East ties, and to the ongoing investigation of the failed Secret Service security procedures. Publishing the photo of then-Senator Barack Obama at the 2005 Rock the Vote Awards, here's the New York Daily News' report, "Wanna-Be TV Duo Tareq and Michaele Salahi Hunting for Payday for Party Crashing Story." And check the introduction there:

The brazen White House party crashers met the President months before they waltzed into the A-list state dinner and now they're seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars for their story.

A photograph from an America's Polo Cup party in May shows Tareq and Michaele Salahi hobnobbing with President Obama, Randy Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas.

The photo was taken during Tareq Salahi's America's Polo Cup fashion show - known as Rockin' the Runway, the Huffington Post reported.

But as I reported yesterday here, I picked up the Polo Contacts entry at Atlas Shrugs, and the Canada Free Press nailed the timeline of Obama's meetup with the Salahis, "'Party Crashers' Had Five-Year Relationship With Obama Before State Dinner." Regarding the Obama-Salahi photo-op with Black-Eyed Peas, the report indicates that the picture "was published in June 2005, Barack Obama was still Senator Obama and not the President Elect."

Plus, by checking the page for Polo Contacts Worldwide, "Americas Polo Cup Pre-Event - Invite Only - with President Elect Obama and Black Eyed Peas, " we find that the entry is dated "November 26, 2008 at 2:15pm." (Added: The date stamp at America Polo Cup's photo jpg is marked "June 8, 2005.)

Now, notice that this is a "pre-event" invitation, so the timing's not right. And here's another 2008 announcement from Polo Contacts Worldwide, seeking polo players for the event, scheduled for the following May, "Call for Polo Players for Televised Polo Fashion Show May 8 - 2009."

May 8, 2009 - The Americas Cup hosts the Worlds premier Televised POLO Fashion Show - featuring the best of the United States & Australia.

The America's Polo Cup host thus annual Rockin the Runway Polo Fashion Show on the second Saturday in May, in the Washington DC region. In 2009, the Rockin the RunWay Fashion Show will feature a evening not to be missed.

Looking around online and we don't see anything on Barack Obama's appearance at the fashion show. We do find this society page entry, however, "America’s Cup of Polo (May 10th, 2009)," with this picture of the Salahis:

A YouTube of the event is here. But no mention either of President Obama at Washington Life Magazine "America’s Polo Cup."

The New York Daily News piece is sourced to Lisa Derrick at Huffington Post, "Party Crashing Salahis Met Obama in May 2009":

A photo from May's Rockin' the Runway™ televised fashion event shows party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi posing with the Black Eyed Peas, Randy Jackson, and PRESIDENT OBAMA.

Derrick, a Firedoglake blogger, first posted the entry at "Hammering" Jane Hamsher's hate dump, "Guess Who Came to Dinner? Crashers Met Obama Earlier This Year."

But folks should check the Washington Post's May 2005 piece, "At Rock the Vote Awards, 15 Bipartisan Candles." Then-Senator Barack Obama joined Arizona Senator John McCain for some "hard-core partying ($25 a ticket) at Dream nightclub, hosted by the Black Eyed Peas with a performance by pop star Nikka Costa."

So, basically, with the major media outlets flailing over each other to pump up the celebrity angle, Tareq Salahi's shadowy background's getting little play in the press. The sleeze-blog Gawker even cheerleads the security breach as some kind of triumph of the common man, "Seven Reasons Why White House Party Crashers are Awesome for America." Plus, The Moderate Voice does a little updated roundup, but misses the damaging issue of Salahi's Palestinian-Islamist ties.

So, we have to go back over to Canada Free Press, with its report yesteday, "Pro-Palestine Party Crashers." At the entry we find Tareq Salahi's bio-blurb page at the Polo website site, which indicates that our White House intruder made excursions to the Middle East, including Dubai -- which is significant, as the news this week reveals not just the Debai World debt default, but also the country's maze of deep-seated ties to sharia finance networks, where "Islamists were working behind the scenes," not to mention the fact that some of the Dubai-UAE royals have links to Osama Bin Laden.

Here's Salahi's biography at America's Polo Cup, with a screencap just in case the celebrity wannebe decides to take it down:

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And note how in the second screencap Salahi's travels are described as "diplomatic visits" rather than commercial tours or polo industry junkets (larger image here)..

Does Tareq Salahi identify as an ambassador to the Middle East's terror-financing networks?

The mainstream press ain't asking.

CNN's Ed Rollins is calling for Salahi prosecutions, however, "Prosecute the White House Gate-Crashers." Might be a good idea, not just to guarantee the integrity of the justice system and to restore the status of the Secret Service; we might also get some new information on President Obama's ties to radical Palestinian activist networkds and the Persian Gulf's "Golden Chain" financers of jihad.

See also my previous reports, "Obama Met Gatecrashers in 2005: Salahi's ATFP Tied to Academic Radical Rashid Khalidi; Security Breach Rekindles Issue of President's Islamist Ties!," and "Tareq Salahi, Gate-Crasher at White House State Dinner, Tied to ATFP, America-Bashing Palestinian Group Calling for Power-Sharing With Hamas!"

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UPDATE: World Net Daily has picked up some of my earlier reporting on this story. See, "White House 'Gatecrashers' Tied to Terror Sympathizer: Salahi Served in Same Anti-Israel Group as Obama's Palestinian Professor Pal."

Plus, Blazing Cat Fur links to this post, here. Also, The Rhetorican links as well, here.

More: Dan Collins links, "The Unintended Consequences of Party Crashing." And Theo Spark, "News."

Obama's Gay Nightmare: Still Waiting for Barry's Backside Boogie Pics!

2009-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

I saw the Globe's scandalous cover story the other day at the checkout line. I forgot to look it up after I got home, so thanks to Barbara Espinosa for the reminder: "Obama Gay Nightmare" (See the article screencap here, "Obama's 'Gay Lover' Gets Revenge"):

I've never really cared that much about the Obama birth certificate scandal (Obama's not completely forthcoming, but that's just typical for this lying sack of a president). Plus, the fact that Obama's never fully renounced his Muslim upbringing is starting become more clear as his apologetic administration matures.

But the one thing that everyone's waiting to see, now covered up somewhere out there in the seedy underworld of Chicago kickback bosses and drug kingpins, are the pictures of Barry getting bonked from the backside by some big black brother from the 'hood.

If that doesn't sink this administation, nothing will.

P.S. Thanks to my friend Jan at Vinegar and Honey for the inspiration.

ADDED: Make sure you read the article, especially this on Michelle Obama's jihad against Larry Sinclair:

"Insiders say Michelle Obama, 45, spearheaded the drive to neutralized Sinclair, using her clout to lean on publishers to reject his scandalous book, Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Coke, Sex, Lies & Murder ..."

Al Gore's Inconvenient Lie

2009-11-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

I found the graphic over at Canada Free Press, "The Climategate Affair":

But check out Hall of Record, "An Inconvenient Lie":

Too many politicians have staked a large part of their reputation on "saving" us from the imminent danger of climate disaster with non-scientific understanding of the role of CO2 in the climate... simplistic thinking. Walking away from their position means they are subject to the criticism of being "dupes." That is a career-ender for a politician. It is far easier for politicians to ignore facts and press ahead with positions. Look for President Obama to do just that in Copenhagen.

Ah, Copenhagen.

Al Gore was interviewed by Der Spiegel early this month. He's "optimistic," although this was before Climaquiddick broke wide open:

SPIEGEL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was less optimistic after the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. She did not believe there would be a majority for a US climate change law in Congress before the world climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

Gore: I am more optimistic. I do not think that we will have the final enactment of the Conference Committee Report in Congress before Copenhagen. But if President Obama is able to go to Copenhagen having passed legislation in the House and having passed it in the Senate, it will be inevitable that the legislation comes out even if the Conference Committee is still pending.

SPIEGEL: What are your expectations for Copenhagen ?

Gore: I think it is realistic to expect a treaty. It will not be as strong as I would like it to be. But it will put a price on carbon and change the forward planning of businesses and cities and states, provinces and nations. In 1986, when the first crisis of the global atmosphere emerged with the discovery of the ozone hole above Antarctica, one year later the nations of the world passed the Montreal Protocol. It was bitterly criticized by environmentalists as being too weak and insufficient. But then it was toughened and toughened, and it is working quite well, and we are on our way to solving that crisis. I am expecting a similar process for Copenhagen. We will produce a treaty that launches the beginning of a huge transformation process.

But what of the prospects now, amid the Climaquiddick imbroglio?

Well, Al Gore's mum about that. It's understandable, too. Anti-global warming protesters literally forced Gore to abandon a book signing in Chicago earlier this week, and the only thing we heard from him is a statement on President Obama's announcement that he'll attend the summit.

Perhaps to no avail (one can only hope, for an Obama fail). See, "As Copenhagen Summit Nears, 'Climategate' Dogs Global Warming Debate":

Climate experts insist leaked e-mails don’t undercut the science showing a warming planet. But public concern about global climate change is waning as delegates prepare to craft an international agreement at Copenhagen.

The lastest news of the East Anglia document dump certainly throws more cold water on the festivities. See, "Climate Change Data Dumped" (via Memeorandum):

SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.

It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.

And Tiger Hawk emphasizes the news:

... the hope that independent scientists could assess the "adjustments" made to the raw data is now dashed, for the raw data no longer exists. This fact has actually been known for months, but the mainstream media ignored it -- no doubt intentionally -- until the email scandal broke last week.

With luck, Copenhagen will be total bust, with the added bonus of making folks like Al Gore and the AGW scientist looking like idiots. There might even be a special place reserved in ... well, let's just hold off on that for now, being above my pay grade and all ...

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UPDATE: Pirate's Cove links, "ClimateGate: CRU Agrees To Publish All The Data. That They Haven’t Thrown Away." Plus, linked at RealClearPolitics, "Best of the Blogs."

St. Louis Tea Party Rocks!

2009-11-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

From Gateway Pundit, "4,000 Patriots Rally With James O’Keefe at St. Louis Tea Party Protest":

More pics at A Traditional Live Lived, "4,000 at St. Louis Tea Party-Let Off Some Steam! HUGE SUCCESS!!!" And Bob McCarty Writes, "TEA PARTY: 2,500 Patriots Rally in St. Louis."

We've had some great tea parties in Southern California, but nobody does it as large as consistently as the St. Louis crew!

Hat Tip: Instapundit and Nice Deb. Also, Memeorandum.

Obama Met Gatecrashers in 2005: Salahi's ATFP Tied to Academic Radical Rashid Khalidi; Security Breach Rekindles Issue of President's Islamist Ties!

2009-11-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

Atlas Shrugs has the scoop, from Polo Contacts Worldwide, "Americas Polo Cup Pre-Event - Invite Only - with President Elect Obama and Black Eyed Peas":

But see also, Canada Free Press, "'Party Crashers' Had Five-Year Relationship With Obama Before State Dinner":

While the big gun media and American Secret Service are out there investigating “party crashers” Tareq and Michaele Salahi, no one’s telling the truth: Obama knew the Salahis when he was still an Illinois senator.

Polo Contacts Worldwide could make it easy for the investigating Secret Service by brown-enveloping them this picture ....

Interesting little detail for White House gumshoes: As the above photo was published in June 2005, Barack Obama was still Senator Obama and not the President Elect.

And with Michaele Salahi yesterday having been caught out—Facebook pompoms notwithstanding—as a bogus cheerleader for the Washington Red Skins and not a model for Victoria’s Secret as claimed, Canada Free Press (CFP) leaves it to FoxNews.com to find out if she ever was a “former Miss USA”.

We do know for a fact that among the slew of memberships on charitable boards, Tareq Salahi is a former member of The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). The only way to know for a fact is because even though ATFP scrubbed all references to Salahi as a board member, he can still be found on Google cache. (Canada Free Press)

Sad that White House Secret Service are looking like Keystone Kops in the aftermath of Obama’s very first state house dinner in the tent.

While the media is fixated on the hitch in Michaele Salahi’s git-along, there can be no doubt that these recently minted “party crashers” really get around.

Here's the Washington Post piece on the Rock the Vote event in 2005, "At Rock the Vote Awards, 15 Bipartisan Candles":

Tom Nelson, chief operating officer of AARP, summed up the night for everyone from Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama to "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson and R&B singer Mya gathered in the National Building Museum's Great Hall:

"You were probably wondering, as you sat down at your table, 'What the heck is the AARP doing in a Rock the Vote event?' "

And while we're wondering about things: Why was Rock the Vote -- last year's ubiquitous celeb-magnet, get-out-the-youth-vote group -- throwing a barbecue dinner ($5,000 or $10,000 or $15,000 a table) three years early?

Because Rock the Vote, a teenager itself, is celebrating its 15th year. For the first time, it held its awards dinner and after-party in Washington (usually it's the night before the Grammys, in New York or Los Angeles), bringing in $680,000.

First there were burgers, beans and potato salad at the Building Museum, with erstwhile Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe hosting. Then it was hard-core partying ($25 a ticket) at Dream nightclub, hosted by the Black Eyed Peas with a performance by pop star Nikka Costa. Fergie, the lead singer of the Peas, might have violated the height restriction in Washington by vamping on five-inch heels, but they sure went well with her too-short shorts and tight spaghetti-strap pink and beige top.

Readers will recall the Tareq Salahi is a former member of the board at the American Task Force on Palestian, the "moderate" rights groups pushing a thinly-veiled program of Palestinian nationalism and the "right of return" (the backdoor destruction of Israel). See, "Tareq Salahi, Gate-Crasher at White House State Dinner, Tied to ATFP, America-Bashing Palestinian Group Calling for Power-Sharing With Hamas!"

And via American Pundit, here's the cache of Salahi's bio-page at ATFP:

According to Discover the Networks, ATFP's former vice president is Rashid Khalidi, the Columbia University Middle East Studies professor and militant Palestinian rights activist. Khalidi cites the late Edward Said as his major influence, and according to the entry cited, "As with Said before him, Khalidi's involvement with the Palestinian cause goes beyond mere support." And, "Khalidi so strongly identified with the aims of the PLO, which was designated as a terrorist group by the State Department during Khalidi's affiliation with it in the 1980s, that he repeatedly referred to himself as 'we' when expounding on the PLO's agenda." Also, according to Campus Watch, ATFP remains in full support of Kha lidi, for example, during charges of academic misconduct in 2005, at the time of Senator Barack Obama's meeting with Tareq Salahi. See, "ATFP EXPRESSES FULL SUPPORT FOR COLUMBIA PROFESSOR RASHID KHALIDI."

Note too that Obama's ties to the Palestinian community became something of an issue during the 2008 campaign. See, the Los Angeles Times, "Allies of Palestinians See a Friend in Obama." Plus, from Andrew C. McCarthy and Claudia Rosett, "In Obama’s Hyde Park, It's All in the Family: Passing Anti-American Radicalism From Generation to Generation":

In Hyde Park during the 1980s, Rashid [Khalidi] made the easy transition from Arafat apologist to American academic. So, ultimately, did his wife Mona. In Chicago, Mona, a former top PLO translator, joined with her husband to found the Arab American Action Network, an activist anti-Israel/pro-illegal-immigration organization that was generously funded by Obama and Ayers at the Woods Fund. Later, after Rashid made the move from the University of Chicago to the Edward Said professorship at Columbia, Mona became an assistant dean of student affairs and assistant director of graduate programs at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

So, while earlier speculation at this blog suggested that the state-dinner security breach posed a terrorist danger to the president, the First Family, and guests (a conclusion later bolstered by expert commentary on the gatecrashers), it's becoming increasingly clear as well that the Salahi affair is resurrecting long-buried questions of Barack Obama's ties to hardline anti-American and anti-Israel organizations, some with real ties to violent extremists in the Middle East.

With all of this, combined with my earlier reporting on the total reversal of priorities in the Obama White House, it's looking that the Salahi security breach is much more than an "embarassment" for the Secret Service. This event is a devastating indictment not only of the Obama regime's administrative competence, but of its stewardship of American national interests as well.

See also, "Pumping Celebrity, White House Publishes Dinner-Crasher Pics on Flickr: Yet, Tareq and Michaele Security Breach a Major Blow to Obama Administration."

For additional commentary, see Jules Crittenden, "No Dithering Around ."

Added: Snooper's Report, "That Settles It...Obama is in Fact a Jihadist." Plus, Gateway Pundit, "White House Party Crashers Linked to Obama’s Radical Pal Rashid Khalidi."

More at Astute Bloggers, "BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA AND TAREQ SALAHI GO WAY BACK."

Pumping Celebrity, White House Publishes Dinner-Crasher Pics on Flickr: Yet, Tareq and Michaele Security Breach a Major Blow to Obama Administration

2009-11-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

The mainstream press is right to note the major implications of Tuesday night's security breach at the White House state dinner. For example, today's Los Angeles Times reports, "State Dinner Crashers Met President Obama":

The Secret Service says it's 'deeply concerned and embarrassed.' The agency is looking into how such a security breach happened at the White House and whether Michaele and Tareq Salahi broke any laws.

And Ronald Kessler, who wrote a recent book on the Secret Service, reports, "Success of White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi is disgrace for Secret Service":

The fact that Michaele and Tareq Salahi were allowed into the White House in this dangerous age is a disgrace and symptomatic of lax standards at the Secret Service ever since it was absorbed by the Homeland Security Department in 2003.

Because of a lack of adequate funding, a management culture that considers itself invincible, as well as spinelessness when it comes to standing up to demands by those under protection - including the White House - the Secret Service takes chances that would have been unthinkable years ago.

That includes not putting people through magnetometers at all or shutting them down early when an event is about to start, and staffs apply pressure because attendees are waiting outside.

Last April, despite the fact that Vice President Biden's presence was announced beforehand, the Secret Service did no magnetometer screening whatsoever when Biden threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Orioles game in Baltimore.

When Mary Cheney, Dick Cheney's daughter, insisted that the Secret Service take her friends to restaurants and the detail refused, the Secret Service acceded to her request to have her detail leader removed.

My assumption is that the same kind of spinelessness motivated the Secret Service Uniformed Division officer at the White House to allow the couple through so as not to inconvenience them by requiring that they wait for the results of a background check before gaining admittance.

To its credit, the Secret Service made it clear that the agency simply ignored the fact that the couple were not on the guest list. Thus, the White House's social secretary's office did not vouch for the couple. Even if it had, they should have gone through a background check before being admitted.

The corner-cutting goes on despite the fact that threats against President Obama have been up 400% at times compared with when George W. Bush was in office.

While Secret Service agents are brave and dedicated, and will take a bullet for the President, Secret Service management has betrayed its trust to a shocking degree. Assassinations occur because of the kind of lapses we saw at the White House on Wednesday evening.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee has pledged to investigate the breach.

But Doug Ross and Pamela Geller are looking at the sheer incompetence in the Oval Office itself.

See, Doug Ross @ Journal, "Brilliant: White House Posts Party Crasher Photos to its Flickr Feed," and Atlas Shrugs, "Amateur Hour at Oblunder's House."

Plus, more commentary and related reactions:

* Astute Bloggers, "LATEST OBAMA GAFFE - PHOTO EDITION."

* Big Government, "Saturday Open Thread: Party Crashers Edition."

* Blue Crab Boulevard, "The Reality Show Based Community."

* Booker Rising, "The Secret Service Is Slippin' Big Time ..."

* Gateway Pundit, "White House Party Crashers Met With Obama Too."

* Grandpa John's, "Has Burt Prelutsky Gone Over the Edge?"

* Hot Air, "Video: Party crashers’ entrance announced at WH state dinner; Update: Took photo with Obama."

* JammieWearingFool, "Unprecedented Stupidity: WH Posts Party Crashers on Flickr Page."

* Jules Crittenden, "No Dithering Around."

* Legal Insurrection, "The Greatest Celebrity's Reality Show."

* Pace Enterprises, "Cracks in the Road to Serfdom."

* Pat in Shreveport, "Make of This What You Will... (Obama's New Low in Public Opinion)."

* Pundit and Pundette, "Crashers get up close and personal with Obama and Biden."

* Reaganite Republican, "Watching Obamamania Go >Pooof<."

* Smart Girl Politics, "Party Crashers Met Briefly With Obama...I think there is a lot more going on here."

* Stop the ACLU, "Socialites Crash a White House State Dinner."

* TrogloPundit, "Could it be that the Obamas just didn’t want to let “those people” into their house?"

* Weasel Zippers, "The Terribly Worded Title: 'Couple penetrates White House security to get into state dinner' (MSNBC)...Couple Sneaks Into State Dinner And Poses For Pictures With Biden, Rahm, Katie Couric UPDATE: Poses With POTUS."

* WyBlog, "Obama returns to his bedouin roots, will hold first State Dinner in a tent."

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ADDED BONUS! Cassandra's "unpopular post of the day" ... "Classy": "I love, love, love the way Michelle Obama looks in this photo ..." (Check the link to see it!)

Plus, add your link in the comments if you'd like to be added to the roundup, or drop me an e-mail!

Toyota's Runaway-Car Recall

2009-11-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

The Los Angeles Times has been following the story for a while now. Here's this from Thursday's paper, "Toyota to Fix 'Very Dangerous' Gas Pedal Defects," and "Recall Another Blow to Toyota's Reputation."

But here's this from October, "Toyota's Runaway-Car Worries May Not Stop at Floor Mats":

The 2009 Lexus ES 350 shot through suburban San Diego like a runaway missile, weaving at 120 miles an hour through rush hour freeway traffic as flames flashed from under the car.

At the wheel, veteran California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor desperately tried to control the 272-horsepower engine that was roaring at full throttle as his wife, teenage daughter and brother-in-law were gripped by fear."We’re in trouble .... There’s no brakes," Saylor's brother-in-law Chris Lastrella told a police dispatcher over a cellphone. Moments later, frantic shrieks filled the car as it slammed into another vehicle and then careened into a dirt embankment, killing all four aboard.

The tragedy Aug. 28 was at least the fifth fatal crash in the U.S. over the last two years involving runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles made by Toyota Motor Corp. It is also among hundreds of incidents of sudden acceleration involving the company's vehicles that have been reported to Toyota or the federal government, according to an examination of public records by The Times.

Toyota has blamed the incidents -- apart from those caused by driver error -- on its floor mats, asserting that if they are improperly installed they can jam open the accelerator pedal. A month after the Saylor crash, Toyota issued its biggest recall in company history, affecting 3.8 million vehicles in model years as far back as 2004. But auto safety experts believe there may be a bigger problem with Toyota vehicles than simply the floor mats.

The full story at the link. A dramatic YouTube audio of the Saylor's 911 call is here.

Tiger Woods Having an Affair?

2009-11-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Dan Riehl had up-to-the-minute posting on Tiger Woods' car crash yesterday. I was too busy with the Salahi story and CRU to look into it. But sheesh, this is pretty big. Woods was hospitalized for facial lacerations, but it's being reported that Elin Nordegren, Woods' wife, inflicted the pain. TMZ has the story, "Tiger Woods: Injuries Caused by Wife, Not SUV." (Via Memeorandum.)

And Fox News has this, "Tiger Woods' Car Crash Came After Explosive Story Claiming Affair":

Tiger Woods' bizarre overnight car crash outside his Florida home came only two days after the National Enquirer published an article claiming the golf champ was having an affair.

Police said they had no knowledge of a fight between Woods, 33, and his wife, Elin, before Woods left their house at 2:25 a.m. Friday — backing out of his driveway and plowing into a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree in a gated community near Orlando.

The Enquirer's explosive story hit the stands Wednesday contending that Woods has been seeing New York night club hostess Rachel Uchitel and that the pair recently were spotted in Melbourne while Woods was playing in the Australian Masters tournament.

And Elin beat Tiger with a golf club? Ooh, that's harsh! See, "Tiger Woods Wife Elin Nordegren Furious Over 'Affair' With Rachel Uchitel in Australia."

The golfing great's wife, Erin Nordegren, said she rescued her husband from the wreckage using a golf club to smash the car window, but other reports emerging out of the US claimed she had used the club on her husband during their late-night row.

The fight that apparently led to the crash was reportedly sparked by tabloid reports Woods cheated on his wife with a nightclub hostess in Melbourne during the recent Australian Masters.

The Fox report says that Uchitel denies a relationship, but TMZ puts it more crisply, "Tiger's Alleged Mistress: I Never Saw His Putter."

My sense is that, boy, the super-sports celebrity life must be rough!

Whew!

Man, did Old Tiger tire of his hot Swedish blonde model wife? Unbelievable! Elin was ranked the 3rd hottest sports wife in Coed Magazine's , "Top 20 Sexiest Athlete Wives of 2007" (pictured):

But compare to Doug Ross, "Rachel Uchitel Photos: The Woman Reported To Have Caused Tiger's Wife to Lay a Smackdown on Him."

So who knows?!!

More on Climaquiddick: Eric S. Raymond on CRU's Global Warming Fraud

2009-11-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the Air Vent blog periodically; and it's just fascinating -- and supremely affirming -- to follow along on this with someone how knows exactly what they're talking about. So obviously I'm pleased to find Reboot Congress' links to Eric S. Raymond's blog on technology, politics, and what not, "Armed and Dangerous." The Reboot post provides some samples from Raymond's commentary, especially some of his remarks in the comments at his posts. For example:

On 11/21, esr, set the tenor for his upcoming posts in Hiding the Decline: Prologue:

For those of you who have been stigmatizing AGW skeptics as “deniers” and dismissing their charges that the whole enterprise is fraudulent? Hope you like the taste of crow, because I do believe there’s a buttload of it coming at you. Piping hot.
Comments on Hiding the Decline: Prologue:

Those who claim “scientific consensus” as a justification for any position are attempting to perpetrate a fraud, and have only themselves to blame when it blows back on them. The proper justification of any theory is not “consensus”, it is predictive power.

--

The most data could tell you is that average temperature is rising and CO2 is too. Well, except that average temperature isn’t rising – it was flat between 1998 and 2008, plunged sharply in 2008, and has not resumed the previous trendline. This is embarassing to AGW alarmists, since CO2 has kept rising and their theories require anthropogenic CO2 forcing to swamp anything that mere nature might be doing – and that’s manifestly not happening.

--
My point is that the data fails to meet the criteria the alarmists themselves have set. That is, they’ve been quite willing to interpret a short-period temperature rise between 1975 and 1998 as indication that we’re on a long-term trend with that slope, but when we get a decade of flatness after that they ignore it. It’s not responsive and not honest to point out that a decade is too short to mean anything unless you’re also willing to dismiss the previous 23 years.

Over longer timeframes, I don’t think there’s any statistically significant evidence that we’ve deviated off the very shallow warming trend following the last Ice Age. If you scrutinize the alleged data claiming otherwise, you keep finding noise and fraud.

There's more at the link, via Memeorandum.

This has been a great Thanksgiving for news! Gosh, and everyone says "slow news day." Both, don't the AGW totalitarians wish?!!

See also, "'Climaquiddick'."

Cartoon Credit: Michael Ramirez at Investor's Business Daily.

Jeffrey Jolson, Publisher and Editor-in-chief at Hollywood Today, Responds to Absence of Source Attributions at Tareq Salahi ATFB Story

2009-11-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

I just received an e-mail, titled "Libel," from Jeffrey Jolson, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, at Hollywood Today. He responds to my post, "Did Hollywood Today Plagiarize American Power on Tareq Salahi's Palestinian Ties?" Mr. Jolson writes (available publically in the comments here) that he'd never heard of American Power before, not until I posted my "libelous blog link" on his page. He also suggests that at the time of writing, there were 525 online stories of Salahi's ties to ATFP, although the screencap of Tareq Salahi at the ATFP website "may have orginated" at KABOBfest, which Mr. Jolson claims was widely availble by the time he was working on his report at 3:00 in the morning.

Mr. Jolson is actually quite amicable in the remainder of the e-mail, although he condescends without any clear journalistic (or hierarchical) justification for doing so. But to be clear:

* I did not link my post at Hollywood Today. Readers can check the comment I left at the comment form signed as "Americaneocon," my online handle. It's a typical blog comment form, asking for the author's information, etc., and I wrote:

If I’m not mistaken, this essay cites my post, published yesterday, without proper attribution. Please update with an acknowledgement and link to my blog post at American Power Blog. At the least, please e-mail with an explanation of your sources.

* I make no firm allegations as to plagiarism. I only infer and pose questions, since I cannot know for sure, and libel requires malicious intent, of which I have none. I'm simply looking for recognition where recognition's due, if it is in fact due (and while I believe so, there's no independent confirmation -- so yeah, it's hard out there for a blogger). Thus, it's hardly accurate for Mr. Jolson to allege libel. That said, the prose styling and phrasing between my post and Mr. Jolson's are exceedingly close -- damned near identical, in fact -- so I ask Mr. Jolson to forward his specific references and links to ATFP's "America-bashing" and "power-sharing" with Hamas. When I wrote my piece last night on ATFP, I searched "ATFP Hamas" in Google, and checking the first dozen or so results turned up little specific commentary and analysis on the group's calls for power-sharing with Hamas; and besides, Mr. Jolson's essay does not cite the one piece, of the first dozen or so entries at the search, that really does, "Palestinian National Unity: The Question of Hamas (ATFP)."

* Mr. Jolson claims I erred at my entry, where he notes (also in the comments at my post):

I am writing a follow-up story on the Salahis tonight, and am happy to quote you in it (with full credit of course) -- maybe use that paragraph of yours that further outline Taraq Salahi's links to Palestinian causes. Is he really a Palestinian national? I did not know that. The Secret Service apparently did not vet him then, yes? That alone would have gotten him an armed escort at the State Dinner, even if we are promoting peace from all sides. And he would not have gotten to shake hands with President Obama. Sorry you were wrong about that too. He did get close to the President and the honorees. The White House has issued the photo to major media, HT included though we are small compared to the Times or Post.

That'd be nice to get a quote at the follow up piece, but again, to be clear: My post links to Discover the Network's entry on ATFP (here). It's there that the group is identified as "nationalist," as in the nationalist aspirations noted in the first paragraph:

Established in 2003, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), originally called the American Committee on Jerusalem, is a not-for-profit group whose goal is to persuade U.S. lawmakers to support the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel "in the territories occupied in 1967." ATFP favors "a two state solution, with a shared Jerusalem and a just solution for the refugee problem according to international law."

Further, I've never said a word about Mr. Salahi shaking hands with the president. My concern all along is that a Washington insider/operative with ties to a nationalist Palestinian group that has blamed U.S. foreign policy for 9/11, and that has sought to integrate Hamas into a power-sharing agreement at the PA, might not be the first person I'd trust to be whooshed into a black-tie affair of state at the White House. And, as I noted, my initial concerns were bolstered by the comments of security experts and those who've written on Secet Service protocol. I'm confident that my analysis is perfectly accurate so far.

In any case, Mr. Jolson has asked if I'd be interested in publishing an essay at Hollywood Today. That's very kind, although I'm not sure if I'll have time, considering my backlog of papers waiting to be graded, as well as my regular publishing load at this blog, as well at Pajamas Media, FrontPage Magazine, and Right Wing News. (And that's to say nothing of the holiday family time I'm also currently enjoying.)

In his reponse, Mr. Jolson pumps up his contacts with mainstream press outlets such as Associated Press and the New York Times. But given the very strained relationships those two organizations have with the top bloggers across the web, may I suggest -- with all due respect -- that Mr. Jolson become a bit more familiar with the norms and standards of attribution common to those regularly breaking stories across the blogosphere.

Did Hollywood Today Plagiarize American Power on Tareq Salahi's Palestinian Ties?

2009-11-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

Look, the New York Times first broke the news that Tareq Salahi, the White House gate-crasher now under investigation for the massive state dinner security breach, had ties to Palestinian rights organization, ATFP.

After I saw that, I looked into it, and published my report, "Tareq Salahi, Gate-Crasher at White House State Dinner, Tied to ATFP, America-Bashing Palestinian Group Calling for Power-Sharing With Hamas!"

Jules Crittenden linked to the piece last night at his snarky entry, "O Presidency Shark Jumped." And Ruby Slippers, also citing my post, emphasizes the potentially catastrophic nature of Salehi's intrusion in "It's Not Easy to be a Reality Show Star these Days."

So folks might understand my peeve at this entry from Hollywood Today, "Palestinian Organization Tied to White House Gate Crashers, Hollywood Today Confirms."

Okay, sure, sounds good. But where'd Hollywood Today "confirm" Salahi's ties to ATFP? From my blog? The Hollywood Today author, Jeffrey Jolson, doesn't indicate a personal interview with any of the sources cited at the piece. But the giveaway is the cut-and-paste prose at Jolson's essay:

The couple that crashed a State Dinner at the White House had ties to the American Task Force on Palestine, Hollywood Today has confirmed.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who may have been there posing as a team from Bravo TV, (the husband-wife team has been auditioning for a role on Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Washington D.C.”), so Bravo should either hire them as resourceful, or more likely turn over all correspondence to the Secret Service under threat of abetting potential terrorists and revoking Bravo’s FCC license – if the network was involved in the set-up.

The way it works, according to former White House press aide Edward Lozzi, is that the White House sets up the guest list well in advance. The Secret Service then vets the individuals. It is not a rock concert, you can’t sneak a peek at the guest list and use someone’s name or slip in a backdoor.

Already, various Arab groups are making the Salahis heroes of the anti-U.S. or anti-Israeli causes on the Internet.

So why were the Salahis allowed on the list? True, the Palestinian organization they both have ties to, the American Task Force on Palestine, claims only the most peaceful intents – so maybe the couple was invited by someone in the White House who believes this. We do not dispute AFTPs insistence of peaceful goals without proof one way or another, yet in the recent past, the AFTP has been accused of America-bashing and promoting power-sharing with self-acknowledged terror group HAMAS.

So why is Tareq’s image on the ATFP webpage gone, as are most references to him and his wife? They are scuttling even faster than Bravo to distance themselves from what they may figure is a time bomb. The ATFP picture shows Tareq as a board member of their group a week ago. He has been deleted now.

Did Jolson speak to Lozzi directly? It's not clear. But no matter. The phrases "America-bashing" and "power-sharing" at Hollywood Today are almost surely drawn from my post, "Tareq Salahi, Gate-Crasher at White House State Dinner, Tied to ATFP, America-Bashing Palestinian Group Calling for Power-Sharing With Hamas!" Note this passage at my conclusion:

In addition, and ominously, it turns out that Tareq Salahi, the polo-playing intruder, is a Palestinian nationalist with ties to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the "right of return" for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The "right of return" has long been considered the backdoor to Israel's destruction. But not only that: ATFP President Ziad Asali is an America-basher who blamed 9/11 on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Asali was a lead U.S. official to PLO terrorist Yassir Arafat's funeral in 2004. And in a position paper in 2007, the ATFP called for a power-sharing agreement at the Palestinian Authority, which would have included the State Department's designated-terrorist group, Hamas.

And, a few minutes after publishing I updated the post to indicate that ATFP had dropped Salahi's picture from their website, and I linked to an essay at KABOBfest, "Tarek Salahi: Coolest Arab of the Moment."

That's all it takes, a quick link to serve as a citation for your sources. Even near-verbatim paraphrasing is cool as long as you link back to your source as a courtesy.

Hollywood Today has not done so, however. And not just to my essay, but to KABOBfest's as well, which includes the screencap of ATFP's website with Tareq Salahi's picture on it prior to the gate-crashing incident:

Norms for citation are obviously lax on the net, and folks snag a lot of graphic material, pictures and stuff, under reasonable claims of fair use.

But Hollywood Today is passing off online investigative research into THE SIGNIFICANCE of Salahi's Palestinian ties as its own. And that's what bugs me. I'm just another blogger out there, but when I dig up and analyze a good bit of information, whether a big deal in the end or not, I wish to be credited, at the least.

**********

UPDATE: Linked at the Astute Bloggers, "TAREQ AND BARACK: BWAHAHAHAHA!" Plus, Three Bears Later links to my initial entry on Salahi's Palestinian ties. See, "Obama Party Crasher Anti-American Palestinian Activist!"

Grad Students Bailing on Climate Science? Judith Curry Responds

2009-11-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

Graduate students in the climatological sciences are questioning their professional choices in the wake of the Climaquiddick controversy. Climate Progress has posted a response from Dr. Judith Curry, a research professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Judith Curry, Georgia Tech professor and climate modeling expert, shows projections of the coming climate shifts during the opening session of Mercer's conference "Caring for Creation: Ethical Responses to Climate Change," on Feb. 27.

*****

Note the sample letter from a graduate student:

Hi Dr. Curry,
I am a young climate researcher (just received my master’s degree from xxx University) and have been very troubled by the emails that were released from CRU. I just want to applaud and support your response on climateaudit.org [95% of it ]. Your statement represents exactly how I have felt as I slowly enter this community. The content of some of the emails literally made me stop and wonder if I should continue with my PhD applications for fall 2010, in this science. I was so troubled by how our fellow scientists within the climate community have been dealing with opposing voices (on both sides). I hope we can all learn from this and truly feel that we are going to need voices like yours to fix these problems in the coming months and years.

Now, you'll want to read the whole entry from Dr. Curry. It's a pretty thoughtful and open-minded response to climate skeptics. But while she expresses a sincere affirmation of scientific integrity and the need for open and democratic replicability of scientific research, she in fact barely mentions the essence of Climaquiddick itself.

It's going to take a lot more than a few letters like this to restore any kind of integrity to the global warming field. In fact, it's nowhere near my field, but I wouldn't advise students to enter the profession of climate science, not unless they were totalitarian radicals themselves, and then of course they wouldn't be asking for my opinion in the first place.

Global warming is a scam. It's an industry that's bent on impoverishing the world in an attempt to implement one-world governmental control. The CRU leak of just the tip of the iceberg on this, for sure. See, for example, Vincent Gray, an IPCC expert reviewer, "There Was Proof of Fraud All Along."

Photo Credit: Mercer University, "Climate Change a Moral Challenge For All People."

Obama Administration Closely Monitoring Dubai Debt Default

2009-11-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

The New York Times has the main story, "Dubai Debt Troubles Push Down Stocks in U.S. and Asia" (via Memeorandum). And Max Boot's account of the crisis is worth a look, "The Middle East Needs Dubai." But check, "Obama Administration Closely Monitoring Dubai Debt Outlook." And it should be too, considering how administration's helped stir Dubai's sharia finance scam. See, "Dubai in Meltdown":

Dubai was a classic bubble. It was also largely a facade. Billed as a playground for Western tourists and a financial center, the truth about Dubai and the rest of the UAE is rather different.

All along, the Islamists were working behind the scenes and, if a Westerner strayed outside the facade and committed a terrible crime like kissing his girlfriend in public, authorities would in fact act.

And then there is the whole disturbing problem of ties between UAE (of which Dubai is a part) royals and Al Qaeda. Long forgotten is the testimony of then-CIA director George Tenet before the 9/11 Commission that a US strike on an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan thought to contain Osama Bin Laden was called off because of the presence of numerous UAE royals in the compound with Bin Laden. It seems that Bin Laden and the UAE royals were falconry buddies and they often visited him.
Why in the world would ANY Westerner trust these scoundrels???

Well, who knows? Better ask the White House, where the crack financial advisors there basically helped GE finance its sharia bond buys, "GE Capital Plans $1 Billon Islamic Bond." See, "Obama’s Hidden Bailout of General Electric," and "Does G.E. Stand to Gain From the Obama Administration?"

More at Memeorandum.

Defense Claims 'Mental Incompetence' in 9/11 Terror Trials; or, WTF is 'Persecutory Disorder'?

2009-11-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well, the news has it that Islamist groups are floating the meme that Nidal Malik Hussein's a "victim" of "modern-science fiction style psychological warfare" (with obvious implications for the prosecution); so there should be no surprise what defense attorneys are arguing for the 9/11 terror-trial defendants. From the Wall Street Journal, "Mental State Cited in 9/11 Case":

When five defendants are brought before a New York federal judge to face charges for the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the first question may be whether some of them are competent to stand trial at all.

Military lawyers for Ramzi Binalshibh, an accused organizer of the 9/11 plot, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, the conspiracy's alleged paymaster, say their clients have mental disorders that make them unfit for trial, likely caused or exacerbated by years of harsh confinement in Central Intelligence Agency custody.

The issue already has arisen in military-commission proceedings at the military's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. According to an August ruling by a military judge, prosecutors have made an "apparent concession" that Mr. Binalshibh "suffers from a delusional disorder-persecutory type" disorder. Mr. Binalshibh has been prescribed "a variety of psychotropic medications used to treat schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder, including Haldol, Abilify, risperidone and Ativan," according to commission records.

Damn!

Haldol, Abilify, risperidone, and Ativan! Geez, who who needs ObamaCare insurance reform? Folks can head down to the jihadis' pharmacies at Club Gitmo!

See also:

* Atlas Shrugs, "Going Mental: The Jihadis' Joke on America has begun, thanks to President MO and Hijab Holder."

* Jihad Watch, "9/11 Plotters Start on Their Road to Freedom: Lawyers to Argue They're Incompetent to Stand Trial."

* Snooper Report, "Terror In NYC and Our Constitution."

* Yid With Lid, "NUTS!!!!: Will Two 9/11 Attackers Be Declared Mentally Unfit For NY Civilian Trial ?"

Wal-Mart Shuts Down Upland, California, Store: Hundreds Inside; FIGHTING BREAKS OUT as Mob Tears Open Shrink-Wrapped Merchandise!

2009-11-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

I need to update my earlier report, "Black Friday Launches Amid Consumer Retreat: Green Groups Seek to Shut Down Shopping; Wall Street Eyes Markets!"

My wife slept in late, having been out in the wee hours of the morning to scope out deals. My wife and son decided to skip Toys-R-Us a long line of customers went around to the Best Buy store down the lot. Toys-R-Us had security patrolling out front, and store personnel were allowing about 30 customers in at a time -- then doors were locked until the next batch of bargain-hunters were admitted.

It's not fun waiting out front, but at least Toys-R-Us had a workable plan. Perhaps not so much at Wal-Mart, where fighting broke out in Upland as crowds went totally barbarian in the hunt for sales. From the Los Angeles Times, "Black Friday: Wal-Mart in Upland Temporarily Closes After 'Fighting Inside'":

Black Friday brought out the rowdy side of Wal-Mart shoppers early this morning when the Upland location shut down for more than two hours after customers caused a ruckus inside.

Store management called Upland police at 2:44 a.m., asking for assistance in dealing with customers who were “fighting inside,” said Lt. Jim Etchason.

About 300 people were in the store, which had remained open all night as a security precaution after a Wal-Mart worker on Long Island, N.Y., was trampled to death last year on Black Friday when a surging, impatient crowd rushed the doors after the store opened.

But in Upland, employees said, customers began tearing into merchandise that had been shrink-wrapped and were supposed to be opened at 5 a.m.

“This was without a doubt the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said one employee, who said she has worked a dozen Black Fridays.

“They wouldn’t let people line up,” she added. “They were belligerent. They just bombarded the store.”

Taliban Propaganda Channel on YouTube: Mujahideen Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Jihad Against American Puppets, Zionist Intruders

2009-11-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

From Jawa Report, "The next time the Taliban kill an American, thank Google's YouTube service for helping spread their vile propaganda."

Yep, it turns out YouTube hosts a Taliban Mujahideen channel that publishes all kinds of videos documenting attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. One video, "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - Mujahideen Statement - 17-09-2009," renounces the "puppet government" of Hamid Karzai, repudiates democratic elections, and calls for the destruction of the "Zionist plan."

And there's more, for example, "Taliban Mujahideen Raiding Military Camp of the Apostate Puppet Army in Zabul," and "U.S. Base Annihilated in Afghanistan by the Taliban Mujahideen Oct. 2009."

At the "Mujahideen Statement" above, the video lists the URL for globalislamicrevival.wordpress.com, which is been taken down for terms of service violations. But Blogger hosts Global Islamic Revival, or I should say kinda hosts, because clicking around at the blog brings up an error page. No doubt these jihadi websites post Taliban beheadings of the infidels, good for firing up the madrassas. Plus, a quick Google check turns up more Islamist extremism. Friends of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, you think?

But you know, of course, leftists will say it's all an American neo-imperialist campaign. We have no interests in Afghanistan. Bring the troops home. We can "invest" in pent up demands domestically. Hey, how about imposing a war "surtax"! That'll teach those pesky warmongers!

Sure, no problem, while we're at it we can turn a blind eye to the totalitarianism sweeping the barbaric periphery. But at least the Obama adminstration's on the job! These people deserve civilian trials:

Black Friday Launches Amid Consumer Retreat: Green Groups Seek to Shut Down Shopping; Wall Street Eyes Markets!

2009-11-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

My wife and oldest boy went shopping at midnight last night.

It turns out the much heralded "Black Friday" launch of the holiday shopping season kicked off at midnight Friday monring at Wal-Mart stores around the country. (Wal-Mart stores actuallly stayed open 24-hours, kind of like a preemptive strike against other merchants. Not far behind, Kohl's stores were open as early as 4:00am, and next year we'll again see the shopping season kick off in the Sandman hours.) A Wal-Mart in Upland, California, closed for a couple hours, following a heavy crush of customers looking for super hot deals. Recall last year one worker at a Wal-Mart stampede was killed, so you'd think there'd be some gracious restraint.

In any case, ABC News reports that a sales boom may be a hard sell, as shoppers have cut holiday budgets by 50 percent. See, "Black Friday Blues: Half Plan Cuts in Holiday Spending."

On top of that, environmental groups are playing Grinch this year, pushing to foment a backlash against consumption:

The day after Thanksgiving is known for shopping sprees, but “Black Friday” is getting blacklisted by environmentalists — and they’re hoping President Barack Obama will back them up.

“In the climate change sense, it’s not that every other retail day isn’t bad. This just happens to be the worst day for the environment,” says Bill Sheehan, executive director of the Product Policy Institute, a nonprofit that aims to prevent waste through better design ....

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference coming up next month, Sheehan and other activists want Obama and world leaders to step up attention to the effect of packaging. The administration has made energy-efficient buildings and power sources one of its top environmental priorities, but those areas account for only 21 percent of the nation’s emissions.

Perhaps these climate change freaks don't read the Internet: Global warming's a hoax, don't you know.

In any case, enviro-Nazis or not, Wall Street's watching closely to see if Black Friday bring a boom to markets and economic growth. See, "Black Friday's Big Question: Hoping for Heavy Traffic."

Cross-posted from American Power.

'Climaquiddick'

2009-11-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

From Transterrestrial Musings, "Nomenclature":

Some have noted, and I agree that it’s a misnomer to call this “ClimateGate.” In addition to the fact that simply adding “Gate” to a scandal is so late twentieth century, calling it a “Gate” would imply that it’s something that the media will go into a frenzy over, because it’s a scandal about something politically incorrect (e.g., Nixon). No, a better name for it (again, not original with me — I think it showed up in comments at one of the PJM pieces) is “Climaquiddick.” In other words, expect the media to try to whitewash and minimize it.

Check the post for numerous updates, with citations for the term's growing usage.

It's the whitewashing and minimizing that's really kind of sickening. So far I haven't seen much on the denialist-left that's been worth quibbling with (mostly just stupid stuff, really); but I can't say that about this whopper of a post at Open Left, "The Puke Funnel is Trying to Disrupt Copenhagen; the CRU Hack Story Continues."

Take a couple of minutes and read through that entry. Then you'll see why there's unlikely ever to be any real "bipartisan compromise" in our lifetimes. Melanie Phillips said it best, in "Green Totalitarianism," where she suggests:

Which is the more terrifying and devastating: if people are bent and deliberately try to deceive others, or if they are so much in thrall to an ideology that they genuinely have lost the power to think objectively and rationally?

That's the first thing that came to me when reading Open Left's unbelievable psychological projection. It's truly derangement - and remember, the folks involved in the CRU scandal aren't first year graduate students. I cited today Kevin Trenberth - the lead scientist at the U.N.'s IPCC - but to hear the crazed commie ghouls at Open Left, someone with Trenberth's unimpeachable credibility is blown off as "meritless."

It's truly totalitarian, that kind of leftist ideological rigidity; and that's why I get almost sick to the stomach, since I know dealing with these people will be a lifelong battle, fought for preserving a good, viable future for our children. I have to admit: It's actually kind of scary. Not only do we have a press that's in the tank for the progressive radicalism eminating from the Obamunist (remember John Holdren, the extremist at the White House, is in on the e-mail scandal), but the media elites are practically biological predetermined to nihilism. As Dr. Sanity notes, some "people, groups, and nations" are so committed to denial that their "entire sense of identity is dependent on a certain view of the world and they would rather die than relinquish that view."

Anyway, be sure to check Air Vent for lots more devastating (and scientifically rigorous) developments in "Climaquiddick":

Plus, see James Delingpole (still calling it "ClimateGate"):

AGW is about raising taxes; increasing state control; about a few canny hucksters who’ve leapt on the bandwagon fleecing us rotten with their taxpayer subsidised windfarms and their carbon-trading; about the sour, anti-capitalist impulses of sandal-wearing vegans and lapsed Communists who loathe the idea of freedom and a functioning market economy.

We know it’s all a crock and we’re not going to take it.

More at Memeorandum. Also, Iain Murray, "Climategate — or Climaquiddick?"

Hat Tip: Five Feet of Fury.

Tareq Salahi, Gate-Crasher at White House State Dinner, Tied to ATFP, America-Bashing Palestinian Group Calling for Power-Sharing With Hamas!

2009-11-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

A New York Times report out this afternoon confirms my warnings from this morning. See, "Great News! President Obama and Prime Minister Singh Were 'Never in Any Danger' - Yeah, Lucky Tareq and Michaele Salahi Weren't Jihadis!."

At the post I snarked, "Yeah, gotta cut that Secret Service detail some slack. The couple just belonged there! Man, if they could just cruise in so casually, it's not far-fetched to think that someone, somehow, could have stashed a cache of small-arms weapons."

But in fact, security experts are suggesting that potentially catastrophic quantities of anthrax, or other WMD-type biotoxins, could have been been secretly introduced at the gala:

White House officials maintained that even though the pair got into the state dinner without an invitation, they did have to go through all the metal detectors that everyone passes through when entering the White House.

Other security experts described the episode as very serious.

“It’s crazy to say that, because there’s a reason they do background checks and there’s a reason they make sure to only let in people who have been pre-approved,” said Ronald Kessler, author of “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect” (Crown).

Indeed, he said, an intruder could have sneaked something dangerous into the crowd.
“A serial killer or terrorist or agent of Iran or North Korea could come in and release anthrax, for instance, and that’s not going to show up in a metal detectors,” Mr. Kessler said. He added that the Secret Service, in particular, should have been extra vigilant because threats against the president have increased by 400 percent since George W. Bush was in power.

In addition, and ominously, it turns out that Tareq Salahi, the polo-playing intruder, is a Palestinian nationalist with ties to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the "right of return" for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The "right of return" has long been considered the backdoor to Israel's destruction. But not only that: ATFP President Ziad Asali is an America-basher who blamed 9/11 on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Asali was a lead U.S. official to PLO terrorist Yassir Arafat's funeral in 2004. And in a position paper in 2007, the ATFP called for a power-sharing agreement at the Palestinian Authority, which would have included the State Department's designated-terrorist group, Hamas.

ADDED: ATFP has removed Tareq Salahi from its website's board of directors page.

Have a Glorious Progressive Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

As you gather around your vegan holiday table in your "Ojamas" (pictured below), recall these warm greetings from our good friends (comrades) at the People's Cube from last year, upon the ascension of Dear Leader to his omipotent office of proletarian power in Washington:

I was just sitting here today mulling over the inspiring story of the first group of Community Organizers that made it here on the Mayflower so many years ago. I am in awe of the collective farms that they first enacted would have been able to feed the whole world had it not been for the global ice age that those capitalist bandits from Spain created in their reckless destruction of the earth in the search for gold and their introduction of horse flatulence that had never been exposed in this paradise before. I think of the good fortune they had to be welcomed by the original socialist collective, the peace loving native-American, a group that were hyphenated before it was even cool to be hyphenated. These brave Community Organizers set to work bringing the People together, that is until the second year here when they were perverted by insidious republican conservatives that led to capitalist exploitation and corruption and genocide that continued till we finally fought back and won the State Given Right for guaranteed outcomes, equal distribution of health and wealth, and non-critical thinking among many. So as we sit down tomorrow to our traditional State dinner of boiled, broiled, or fried rats, beet stuffing and imitation polar bear gravy, candied carrots, and fresh 2 day old bread, give thanks to the One. By the way, any one heard what time the state will be bringing us our dinner?

And here's our message from the Great Organizer-in-Chief:

And for your most up-to-date progressive historicism, see "Thanksgiving's Surprising Civil War Roots" (via Memeorandum).

'Where the Heck is Global Warming?' - Kevin Trenberth, Lead Scientist at U.N.'s Climate Change Panel, Admits Scientific 'Travesty' of AGW Theory

2009-11-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

Look, a "travesty" is a "grotesque imitation," and that's how Kevin Trenberth - who was the lead scientist of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change studies in 2001 and 2007 - describes the bogus claims of global warming science in an e-mail just a month ago.

The image here is from the Daily Mail, "Climate Change Scandal Deepens as BBC Expert Claims He Was Sent ‘Cover-Up’ Emails a Month Before They Went Public."

Here's Trenberth's e-mail right here:

And scrolling down we see this:

Well I have my own article on where the heck is global warming? We are asking that here in Boulder where we have broken records the past two days for the coldest days on record. We had 4 inches of snow. The high the last 2 days was below 30F and the normal is 69F, and it smashed the previous records for these days by 10F. The low was about 18F and also a record low, well below the previous record low. This is January weather (see the Rockies baseball playoff game was canceled on saturday and then played last night in below freezing weather) ...
The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.

This can't be more devastating.

Here's Melanie Phillips on the scandal, "Green Totalitarianism":

This material has revealed what has been described as ‘Nixonian-style paranoid plotting’ by these scientists to defraud the public. Actually, I think it reveals something even worse.
What appears to be the case is that these scientists did not set out to mislead the world so much as try to force data which did not correspond to their ideology of anthropogenic global warming to support that ideology. For me, one of the most telling emails was this one from Phil Jones on the Medieval Warm Period (MWP):
Bottom line - their is no way the MWP (whenever it was) was as warm globally as the last 20 years. There is also no way a whole decade in the LIA period was more than 1 deg C on a global basis cooler than the 1961-90 mean. This is all gut feeling, no science, but years of experience of dealing with global scales and varaibility. (My emphasis)
In other words, despite the fact that science (or history) tells us that the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than today, thus destroying the basis of the AGW myth that we are living through an unprecedented warming of the climate caused by carbon dioxide arising from industrialisation, it cannot be true – because the Hadley CRU Director’s ‘gut’ tells him so.
All the manipulation, distortion and suppression revealed by these emails took place because it would seem these scientists knew their belief was not only correct but unchallengeable; and so when faced with evidence that showed it was false, they tried every which way to make the data fit the prior agenda. And those who questioned that agenda themselves had to be airbrushed out of the record, because to question it was simply impossible. Only AGW zealots get to decide, apparently, what science is. Truth is what fits their ideological agenda. Anything else is to be expunged.
Which is the more terrifying and devastating: if people are bent and deliberately try to deceive others, or if they are so much in thrall to an ideology that they genuinely have lost the power to think objectively and rationally?
I think that the terrible history of mankind provides the answer to that question. Nixon was a crook. But what we are dealing with here is the totalitarian personality. One thing is now absolutely clear for all to see about the anthropogenic global warming scam: science this is not.

Plus, Melanie links to Nigel Lawson (Lord Lawson, who was Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer from June 1983 to October 1989) at the Times of London, "Copenhagen will fail – and Quite Right Too":

Even if the science was reliable (which it isn’t), we should not force the world’s poorest countries to cut carbon emissions.

But President Obama will give the opening lecture in Copenhagen anyway, "Obama Will Go to Copenhagen."

Lots more at Memeorandum.

Great News! President Obama and Prime Minister Singh Were 'Never in Any Danger' - Yeah, Lucky Tareq and Michaele Salahi Weren't Jihadis!

2009-11-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

You can't have a bigger security breach, and if this were a Republican White House the press would be hammering the administration for it's near-catastrophic security lapse, but there's almost a breathless fawning over Michaele and Tareq Salahi, who crashed the White House state dinner on Tuesday night. See the New York Times, "At the First Obama State Dinner, the First Crashers," and the Washington Post, "Off the List, But Somehow on the South Lawn."

But this blogger is kind breatless:

Tareq and Michael Salahi of Virginia dressed in a formal Indian gown, and tuxedo respectively, and walked right past security, high-fiving one reporter, and mingled and snapped pictures with various high profile dignitaries in attendance. Among the many who did have their pictures taken with the Salahis were Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of staff, and Vice President Biden. Reportedly, the President and the Prime Minister were never in danger.

The Times' report notes that the couple "went through magnetometers and other levels of security, as did all guests attending the dinner." But the Post's piece is fawning:

On a rainy night like Tuesday, with a crowd of 300-plus arriving, security might have lost track of or granted a modicum of sympathy to a pair who certainly looked as though they belonged there. If their IDs didn't send up any red flags in the screening process, they would be sent through the magnetometers and into the White House.

Yeah, gotta cut that Secret Service detail some slack. The couple just belonged there! Man, if they could just cruise in so casually, it's not far-fetched to think that someone, somehow, could have stashed a cache of small-arms weapons.

But we don't want to jump to any conclusions.

More at Memeorandum, plus some of the news reports: