It’s somewhat ironic that the expense has been discovered thanks to the Recovery.gov website that is now costing taxpayers an outrage $18 million, but that’s a story for another day.

Anyway, the service received in exchange for $1,191,200.00 of taxpayer money is listed precisely as:

2 pound frozen ham sliced

Look, I’m a big fan of ham. I’ll eat ham sandwiches, salad with bits of ham on top, and even ham by itself with some mustard. Our family sits down around a large ham every Easter and occasionally on New Year’s Eve. But I’ve never tasted ham worth $595,600 per pound.

In case you’re wondering, the appropriation went to the 34th Congressional district of California, represented by Democrat Lucille Roybal-Allard. Containing a chunk of Los Angeles County, the district went for Barack Obama in 2008 by a margin of 74.7 – 23.1%. It’s California’s most Hispanic congressional district.

The record shows that the process included a full and open competition with a sealed bid, but there were only two offers received before the government decided to fork over $1.19 million for 32 ounces of cold cuts. The payment went to Clougherty Packing, LLC, which apparently runs Farmer John. The company is also based in Los Angeles.

This expense is ridiculous, of course, but shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention to how Washington is spending money these days. We’ve wasted $600 million on a one mile heritage trail, $900,000 on doorbells in one school district alone, and countless other expenses that would make Americans ill. This HamGate is just the latest such example.

Thanks to CalebHowe.

Barack…my Pen Pal

Howard Houchen

             I believe it was late January 2009, a few days after the Obama inauguration, that it was announced by the fledgling White House Office of Propaganda (sorry, media relations team) the creation of the Middle Class Task Force.  The Official Communiqué informed me that America’s new President was so concerned with the plight and the struggles of the backbone of American society that his Executive Office needed a mechanism by which it could ensure help would be targeted and lasting.  This was such an important issue that the Mighty Joe Biden was appointed to see this task through.

             Since the new President seemed to show a genuine interest in my particular social category and was kind enough to send a message about it, I responded with the following: ‘Mr. President: While I have been extremely skeptical of your past, your present, and your future plans relative to what your view of what America should be, I do applaud the establishment of the new Task Force.  As long as you understand that a Middle Class Task Force must actually include members of the MIDDLE CLASS!  Without their participation this will simply be an exercise in futility as it will lack any semblance of legitimacy.” He never responded.

             Over the course of the next several months I received several White House Office of Propaganda messages with the signature of “Barack Obama” attached to them.  I responded to each and every one of these while continuing to voice my opinion on the now lengthy list of previously delivered freedom-shredding pronouncements of desired policy.  It was getting to be a bit frustrating just trying to keep track of all the bad ideas and un-American desires of this President.  He told us to have the audacity to hope for positive change.  He would send me a proposal to support…I would read it…then write him back and tell him there was no way any freedom loving American would even contemplate such an idea.  He never responded.

             I concluded that what was needed was focus…perhaps a single subject.  I chose the first, The Middle Class Task Force, because I felt that it was this issue that revealed the most evidence relative to the true motivations of my new one-way pen pal.  After several “photo-op” meetings and a lot of “blah-blah-blah” it soon became crystal clear the Task Force still had not one single iota of input from anyone who was actually a member of the middle-class and that the Task Force had accomplished absolutely NOTHING!  Again, a note was penned to “Barack Obama” as well as Mighty Joe Biden expressing my concern and belief that this Task Force was nothing more than a prop in a very badly directed production.  They never responded.

             I still receive messages from “Barack Obama” and I still reply to each and every one of them in the same cordial fashion as the very first…until the last one; my pen pal obviously believes I am deaf, dumb, and blind (if he ever read my responses, he would realize this is not the case).  He was asking me to support his nomination of Judge Sotomayor.  He eloquently stated how she would “be a protector of the Constitution” and how she “will always apply the rule of law”.  The following is my response:

 President Obama:

 Please, you have got to be kidding me!  “A person who will uphold the Constitution”, are you even certain of your own remarks? If her interpretation of upholding the Constitution reflects your beliefs relative to upholding the Constitution…I want no part of her sitting on the highest court in the land.

The average American citizen is not a dumb as you believe when presented with facts and allowed to form an opinion of their own.  This Marxian-Socialist agenda (among numerous other easily applicable monikers) your administration has embarked on will not be allowed to stand.

Respectfully;

 Howard Houchen. 

He never responded.

             I am thinking of severing my pen pal relationship with “Barack Obama”. It is obvious that it is, and will always be, a one-way affair.  Just like the lack of legitimacy the Middle Class Task Force will forever be burdened with (like they really care) and the total disregard and lack of respect “Barack Obama” has for any level of dissent regarding his agenda, I will return the favor.  Does anyone remember the theme of the Obama Inauguration?  It was “A New Birth of Freedom”.  I understand the true meaning of this now: New Freedoms bestowed upon the Federal Government by the Federal Government to take away the Peoples Freedoms.  He was notified of this decision in one last message sent from my humble desk.  He never responded.

It’s simply irresponsible for Governor Charlie Crist to leave his term early if he gets elected to higher office, says the party headed by former Senator Barack Obama, who resigned from his Senate term early after being elected to higher office.

Except that, er, Crist hasn’t resigned. He hasn’t even discussed the idea of resigning from his position early. He’s simply running for U.S. Senate while remaining governor. And his term expires in 2011, not far away from the day that he’d be sworn as senator. So there’s that.

The ultimate irony, however, is the fact that I mentioned in the first paragraph. The Democratic Party really wants to call leaving an elected office early irresponsible? Even in cases where the incumbent is resigning in order to assume higher office? Just months after Barack Obama resigned his post from the U.S. Senate in order to assume the presidency? That takes nads the size of basketballs.

More specifically, Google searches on the term “economic depression” aren’t as popular as they were in the past. Apparently that’s indicative of the economy recovering.

Isn’t it possible that people are just so used to this prolonged recession that they don’t need to  Google such terms anymore? Or it’s gotten so bad that these things are too depressing to concentrate on? Or perhaps other news has simply prevailed over the past few weeks and the previous levels will soon return?

Of course it’s all possible, likely even. We hear every day that unemployment is reaching double-digits, several states already have an unemployment level in the teens, Barack Obama’s approval rating on the economy and other issues is trending downward, massive inflation is expected to hit soon, and companies are still failing.

The economy remains in the crapper by all indicators. But you have to stretch to the lengths exhibited by Summers when you really have nothing positive to point to as a result of the administration’s policies. It might be a transparently pathetic move on the part of the administration, but that’s all it’s got to go on. So you take what you can, spin furiously, and hope enough morons buy the story.

More: Another option: The people previously searching for the term are now out of work and can no longer afford internet access. They’re experiencing economic depression first-hand. They don’t need to search for it anymore.

An excellent ad that Ed Morrissey says is running on MSNBC right now. If so, and I have no reason to doubt him, I’ll reconsider my personal boycott against donations to the Republican establishment. It’s effective and powerful, which is why it’s surprising that the GOP is running it.

Watch as Barack Obama goes from insisting the stimulus package will save or create jobs immediately in January to claiming it’s working and has been coming in under budget a few months later to insisting that the stimulus package was never intended to work within the first few months.

Of course, now the White House is claiming that the purpose of the stimulus was never to, er, stimulate. But maybe we’ll see that in another ad, preferably one with a laugh track.

>

I kid you not.

The federal government is actually seeking to hire individuals to bring “humor” to the Treasury Department, apparently to stress the importance of “humor in the workplace”.When did The Onion and reality switch places?

The Contractor shall conduct two, 3-hour, Humor in the Workplace programs that will discuss the power of humor in the workplace, the close relationship between humor and stress, and why humor is one of the most important ways that we communicate in business and office life. Participants shall experience demonstrations of cartoons being created on the spot. The contractor shall have the ability to create cartoons on the spot about BPD jobs. The presenter shall refrain from using any foul language during the presentation. This is a business environment and we need the presenter to address a business audience.

You want humor in the workplace? Send around the Obama Administration’s latest spin as to why the $787 billion stimulus package isn’t stimulating the economy. That’ll have ‘em rolling on the floor in fits of laughter.

As for “foul language”, the American taxpayers funding this crap may be able to share some examples of words that the federal humorists would be banned from using.

Matt Drudge has this placed at the top of his site for now, apparently out of the sheer shock that the federal government would have the cajones to seek such an expense while millions and millions of Americans are trying to figure out how to feed their families. Nothing the feds do shocks me anymore.

Multiple blasts have rocked the Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing at least four and injuring more.

In fact, local media reports that the death toll has climbed to eight. Local officials say that multiple foreigners are amongst the fatalities.

“There were explosions heard from two separate places, one the JW Marriott, the other in the Ritz Carlton,” South Jakarta Police Chief Firman Santyabudi told AP.

“We are still trying to check because right now we are still helping the victims,” he said.

Myra Junor witnessed the blasts from a nearby building and said windows on the lower floors of the Ritz-Carlton had shattered.

The two hotels are in Jakarta’s central business district.

The explosions come two weeks after presidential elections in Indonesia.

According to BNO News, the Marriot hotel explosion took place at the same location as a 2003 attack that claimed 12 lives and injured over 150 others.

Also, the Manchester United team was scheduled to stay at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Sunday. Not sure if it’s related.

Behold the wisdom of the man first in line for the presidency. Something happens to Obama, this guy’s got the launch codes to the world’s most extensive nuclear arsenal and powerful military. Just a little something to help you sleep a night.

“And folks look, AARP knows and the people working here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable,” Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. “It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it. It can’t do it financially.”

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Well, people that I say that to say, ‘What are you talking about, you’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, I’m telling you.”

Uh huh. Biden says this the day after the annual deficit reaches $1 trillion. The nation currently owes $11.4 trillion in debt, the proposed socialized health-care bill in Congress costs upwards of $1.4 trillion, the administration has proposed spending trillions on stopping global warming, unemployment is about to hit double-digits, and that $787 billion “stimulus” bill hasn’t stimulated crap.

I’d call him retarded but, unlike Barack Obama, I wouldn’t want to make fun of the actually disabled. Because I like to think that I possess an ounce of class.

In which the left’s CYA spin reaches its lowest point to date, and this new achievement comes directly from the White House.

Remember the old days when the $787 billion “stimulus” package was supposed to help the economic rebound, “save or create” millions of jobs, and Democrats were actually referring to it as the, er, “stimulus package”? Those days are apparently over:

Turns out the $787 billion “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” (AARA) was not designed for full economic recovery, but rather to “stabilize” the downturn. That’s the word from White House officials today, who held off-camera briefings with reporters on how the AARA is working so far.

“This legislation was designed to cushion the downturn,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “That’s why we have always talked about this as one function of economic recovery.”

When pressed about the change in terminology, Gibbs said he was not trying to temper expectations after the fact. “I can probably find 15 or 20 occasions when I said this in the lead up,” Gibbs said, explaining that he had always defined the AARA as part of a “multi-legged stool.”

Really? Let’s review the tape, shall we? Here’s a speech by Barack Obama from back in January:

That is why I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will immediately jumpstart job creation and long-term growth. …

There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short-term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence in our economy. It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.

By the way, the title of the page from Time magazine? “Full Remarks of Obama’s Stimulus Speech”.

And how about Barack Obama’s top economic advisor, Christina Romer? On July 13th:

“The various forms of fiscal stimulus are expected to provide powerful upward pressure on aggregate demand and to aid recovery,” Romer’s group says.

Back to Obama trying to spin on July 12th even talked about stimulating the economy:

“It was, from the start, a two-year program, and it will steadily save and create jobs as it ramps up over this summer and fall.”

And the White House just two days ago:

In the near term, various factors should help to stem the downturn and eventually increase overall production and lead to employment growth. Most obviously, the ARRA provides $787 billion of fiscal stimulus spread primarily over the next two years. This fiscal stimulus takes a number of forms: tax cuts for working families and businesses; protection of the most vulnerable through programs such as extended unemployment compensation; direct government spending on infrastructure, energy efficiency projects, and other public investments; and fiscal relief for state governments to help maintain key services. Taken together, the various forms of fiscal stimulus are expected to provide powerful upward pressure on aggregate demand and to aid recovery.

And the White House yesterday:

Q And they were incorporated in the stimulus, too, and it didn’t get you any final votes.

MR. GIBBS: Well, I’m happy that you acknowledge the efforts in the stimulus –

And now the White House wants us to believe that the sole purpose of the “stimulus” bill was to stop the bleeding and not to, er, stimulate recovery? Does the Obama Administration really have that little amount of faith in the intelligence of the American people? Is the White House unaware of the invention of the internet and Google? F’ing pathetic.

Baghdad Bob just called. He says it’s too hackish even for him.

Most Orwellian White House evuh.

Those who currently have private insurance will apparently be grandfathered in, but no one else will be allowed to gain private insurance in the future.

That would explain why Obama has only said that “if you have insurance you like now” you can keep it, while more honest Democrats concede that it’s a trojan horse for a single-payer system.

Under the Orwellian header of “Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage,” the “Limitation On New Enrollment” section of the bill clearly states:

“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day” of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won’t be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

As I’ve said before, Democrats don’t seek to simply ensure that all Americans have an option if they can’t afford private insurance. On the contrary, the Congressional Budget Office has stated that many millions of Americans who can’t afford insurance will be left without coverage even under ObamaCare.

No, Democrats seek to put private insurance out of business by forcing companies to compete with a government program that basically has no budget and has the backing of lawmakers. They’ll drive the private sector out of business and then convert the rest of Americans to a single-payer system. It’s been their goal all along, but most have been too dishonest to admit as much.

Ed Morrissey:

That will have the effect of forcing millions of people into the public plan whether they want it or not. Even worse, if insurers get barred from attracting new customers — which this clause outlaws — then they will eventually see their rolls drained, thanks to the natural flow of the market as employers drop plans and skip the expense of offering medical insurance. It won’t take long at all for insurers to exit the market and leave the field for just the public plan, which will automatically get the customers of each individual insurer as they close up shop.

And then the government, headed by Nanny-State liberals, will be in control of everyone’s health-care. We’ll then be able to enjoy the wonders of rationing, a decrease in the number of doctors and nurses, a sharp decline in the quality of care provided, and decisions on whether to pay for a life-saving procedure based on whether some bureaucrat thinks your life is worth saving.

We need to stop this now, for the sake of current and future generations of Americans. Michelle Malkin has the phone numbers for Blue Dog Democrats who’ve expressed  concern over the bill, but you should also contact your represenatives here: 212-224-3121.

They’d be right, of course, but it’s surprising to see that large of a percentage fully understanding the financial implications for the middle class.

Contrary to the left-wing spin that would have you believe the rich will simply pay for it and there will be no negative reprecussions for average Americans, 78% understand that there will be:

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of U.S. voters say it is at least somewhat likely that taxes will be raised on the middle class to cover the cost of health care reform. Fifty-six percent (56%) say it’s very likely.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% of voters think it’s unlikely that the cost of health care reform will require raising taxes on the middle class.

But the news gets worse for the Obama Administration. McClatchy DC reports this morning that Obama’s approval rating has fallen 7 points since June amongst Americans at large and 8 points since June amongst independent voters. He’s now at the lowest point of his presidency to date and the trend continues downward.

In fact, other recent polls have shown the situation worse for Obama, with Diego/Hotline showing a drop of 9 points amongst all Americans and a drop of 15 points amongst independents, again since June. The same poll shows that 71% of voters would rather have a slower recovery than keep building on the deficit, showing that the overwhelming majority of Americans are terribly concerned about Washington’s spending habits.

Bottom line: Obama hasn’t reached George W. Bush end-of-term figures yet, but the trend isn’t good. How long can you sustain a 50~% approval rating when you’re dropping 7 to 9 points a month amongst all Americans and even more rapidy amongst swing voters? Answer: Not very.

Her statement wasn’t just dripping with condescension. There was so much condescension running off that thing I was surprised her aides didn’t have to run to the floor with buckets.

Harry Alford of the National Black Chamber of Commerce came to testify upon invitation on energy policy. But when he took a stance that clearly opposed that of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s, the California senator began quoting reports from the NAACP and 100 Black Men of Atlanta. Alford, recognizing that there was a pattern emerging in the quotes she was producing, called her out on her racial condescension:

Boxer seems to assume that Mr. Alford should or will change his position because another black organization disagrees with him. Just like affirmative action assumes that minorities can’t compete against white men without government help, Mrs. Boxer’s statement was simply racist. Despite her last-minute attempt at clean-up in the Senate chamber, her racist move was captured on video. Hopefully her constituents will be made aware of it before next November.

Via Hot Air.

We’re reminded of how far we’ve come in a speech given by Ronald Reagan, then only an actor, to the 1964 Republican National Convention in support of Senator Barry Goldwater:

Welfare spending [is] 10 times greater than in the dark depths of the Depression. We’re spending 45 billion dollars on welfare.

Adjusted for inflation, that figure would’ve been the equivalent to $289 billion in 2006. But according to the budget for fiscal year 2008, the United States government laid out $354.3 billion in 2006, or an increase of $65 billion.

But now we’re told that 9.3 million families in this country are poverty-stricken on the basis of earning less than 3,000 dollars a year.

According to 2007 numbers, there are now 37.3 million Americans living below the poverty level, which is defined as a household of four people making less than $21,000. Adjusted for inflation, Reagan’s 3,000 dollars would equal about $19857.51 in 2007 dollars.

In his 1980 Republican National Convention speech, Reagan again brought up a few numbers:

The head of a government which has utterly refused to live within its means and which has, in the last few days, told us that this year’s deficit will be $60 billion, dares to point the finger of blame at business and labor, both of which have been engaged in a losing struggle just trying to stay even.

Adjusted for inflation, $60 billion would equal about $154 billion in  2008 dollars. As of this writing, the deficit has hit $1 trillion and we’re only 9 months into the fiscal year. And that doesn’t even take into account the health-care reform bill we’re facing down, which totals over $1.4 trillion.

Food for thought.

Thirteen to ten, along party lines. Democrats have cleared another hurdle in the sprint to the destruction of our nation’s health-care system. Another step closer to Washington bureaucrats rationing the care you receive and shoving you off your private plan.

Voting on strict party lines, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved a bill on Wednesday to revamp the nation’s health care system, as Democrats said that the legislation held the promise of more universal health coverage and more effective and affordable medical care while Republicans argued that the measure was unaffordable and would lead not to better care but to the denial of it.

The committee vote was 13 to 10.

The acting committee chairman, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, had made clear from the start that his panel would bend little when it came to the top priorities of Senate Democrats and the Obama administration, including on a provision to create a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers that Republicans insisted was a deal-breaker.

In the end however, Republicans held their ranks. In his closing statement, Senator Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming said that Republicans had been forced to offer more than 100 amendments to the bill because Democrats had largely shut them out of the drafting process. And he said that the $1 trillion, 10-year cost of the measure would simply drive the nation further into debt, while denying many Americans the choices for health care providers that they now enjoy.

Mr. Enzi, with a hint of sarcasm, noted that the bill’s title was the “Affordable Health Choices Act.”

“With its trillion-dollar price tag,” Mr. Enzi said, “this bill is anything but affordable.”

Not only is it bad legislation because of the socialization of the health-care system that it brings about, but it costs the American taxpayer over $1 trillion. That’s money we simply can not afford to spend, considering the already mounting deficit and national debt, on such a disastrous policy.

Americans shouldn’t be forced to spend money they don’t have on the destruction of their health system. Democrats in Washington want to commit future generations to pay off uncontrollable debts that lead to rationing of health-care, a decrease in the number of doctors and nurses, a decline in the quality of care provided, and the government takeover of such a vital industry. It’s insanity, plain and simply.

It’s time to step-up our opposition efforts. Blue Dog Democrats in both chambers don’t want to be left holding the bag when the legislation proves disastrous and average Americans seek retribution for the destruction of their health-care system. They need to hear from you that, not only will you hold them accountable, but you’ll work for their defeat in the next election. We also need to make sure that limp-wristed moderate Republicans aren’t even thinking about supporting such a disastrous policy as the one being proposed by their Democratic counter-parts.

Call your representatives in Congress. Tell them to vote against the socialization of our nation’s health-care system: 202-224-3121.

And if you want to see just how disastrous these single-payer systems turn out to be, be sure to view Steven Crowder’s undercover video from inside the Canadian health establishment. It’s absolutely terrifying.

Two tankers carrying thousands of gallons of fuel have exploded on an I-75 overpass near Hazel Park in Michigan, reportedly resulting in the collapse of the bridge and the deaths of two individuals.

The incident occurred at approximately 8:30 PM local time, 9:30 PM ET.

Three miles of I-75 have been shut down while fire crews battle the massive blaze, which local reports indicate reaches over 150 feet into the air.

WDIV-TV reports that at least two people have been killed as a result of the incident, but that figure has yet to be confirmed by authorities.

Wait, it gets worse. That number only includes the number of jobs lost up until the end of June, not the 15 other days thus far in July. The rate jumped 1.1% from the end of May until the end of June, so with economists projecting rising unemployment through the rest of the year and into 2010, we can pretty much expect that July will see the rate nearing 16%.

Michigan’s unemployment rate spiked higher in June, hitting 15.2%, the highest rate since mid-1983.

That jump marked an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the May rate of 14.1%. The June rate was more than 7 percentage points higher than the 8.1% rate of June 2008.

“Several key industry sectors in Michigan showed weakness in June, led by a large drop in manufacturing jobs as restructuring in the auto industry continued,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the state’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. “In addition to the auto impact, the jobless rate increase also reflected large numbers of job seekers pursuing seasonal jobs in June.”

Michigan, under the governance of Democrat Jennifer Granholm, has long seen a rising unemployment rate that has remained the highest in the nation for years. However, with the stimulus package failing to stimulate anything; government taking over industries it’s destined to run even more inefficiently than they’re run now; the job-killing cap-and-trade legislation possibly passing Congress; taxes on job creators raised to pay for the socialization of health-care; and the imminent high-inflation resulting from the pumping of cash into the economy, it’s unclear how much longer the rest of America will lag behind Michigan’s unemployment rate.

This is just the latest in a long train of bad economic news. You know what that means, right? It’s time for Democrats to launch their witch-hunts of Bush Administration officials over supposed “secret” programs that the public has known about for 7 years now. Because we can’t have the public focusing on the failure of the White House and Congress to stop the bleeding they insisted would  be accomplished through the passage of an $800 billion porkulus bill.

He doesn’t just screw up a few words. Leahy removed the entire controversial aspect of the “wisa Latina” quote, giving the impression that she was just saying that her experiences led her to wise decisions — not better decisisons than those made by white men. Look at it this way: It was hackish enough for the Associated Press to call him on it:

WASHINGTON (AP) – In endorsing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy did some creative rewriting of history. And he put quote marks around it…

LEAHY SAID: “You said that, quote, you ‘would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would reach wise decisions.’”

THE FACTS: If that’s all Sotomayor said, the quote would barely have mattered to opponents of her nomination. The actual quote, delivered in a 2001 speech to law students at the University of California at Berkeley, was: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Leahy’s revision dropped the controversial part of the phrase, the part that has attracted charges of reverse racism.

The other aspect the AP fact-checked from yesterday’s hearing were the quotes brought up by Jeff Sessions (R-Al) in which Sotomayor said it was the job of judges to make policy, showing that she believes in judicial activism. She denies that she believes as much, but the wire service says Sessions quoted her correctly. Unsurprisingly, she’s lying in order to get confirmed without issue.

So, today I had a double technological disaster.

First, my computer crashed. I don’t mean I turned it off and it wouldn’t start again or I got the blue screen of death. I mean it just turned itself off and refused to go back on. I’ve resorted to using my netbook until I can get the other one to the shop.

Second, the blog design inexplicably got screwed up. Despite the fact that I’ve changed nothing in quite some time, it just became all screwed up. Normally I’d repair it back to its former self, and I’ve returned most of it, but I can’t change the logo. Why you ask? Because my copy of Photoshop is on the other computer that, you guessed it, crashed.

So I hope you’ll excuse  the amateur, standard logo until I can either find a copy of the old one on a CD or gain access to another computer with Photoshop. Thanks.

Allahpundit and Karl are double-teaming on this one, so I’ll send you over there for the details. Be sure to read Allah’s update regarding former U.S. intelligence officials coming to Cheney’s defense on the issue.

Basically it comes down to this: Barack Obama’s approval numbers are down, Democrats are beginning to look like idiots for quickly passing an $800 billion stimulus package that hasn’t stimulated anything, and legislative issues such as cap-and-trade and the socialization of our health-care system are rapidly losing support with the general population. They need a distraction and they need one fast.

So they’re going on a witch-hunt, pretending as if a program the public has known about for 7 years is a recently-exposed, super-secret conspiracy that calls for an all-out Congressional investigation. It amounts to distracting the public with a shiny object in one hand while passing outrageous legislation with the other.

We just have to make sure the public sees the “investigation” for the cheap political ploy that it is. Spread the word.

As I predicted, the majority of Americans aren’t going to accept that a woman who sought the vice presidency and talks constantly about the good she’s done for Alaska resigned from her first term because of unfair attacks on her family or because she thought it was best for her state. They see the premature resignation for what it is: Clearing the way for her political ambitions.

Just 24 percent of those accept Palin’s explanation that she resigned because it was the right thing to do for Alaska. More than twice that percentage – 52 percent – cited her political ambition as the reason for her resignation. An additional 14 percent said they don’t know the reason.

Even Republicans are skeptical of the explanation, with a higher percentage saying Palin resigned for her political career (36 percent) than saying she did so for Alaska (31 percent)…

Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed expect Palin to run for president in 2012, while 43 percent say she will not. If she runs, she’ll likely face widespread skepticism: As CBS News revealed Monday morning, just 22 percent say Palin has the ability to be an effective president. Sixty-five percent say she does not.

You know what didn’t help that perception of ill-preparedness? Failing to even complete her first term as governor, leaving her total executive experience with some time as a mayor of Wassilla and a few months as governor of a state with 686,000 residents. Even Barack Obama, as ill-prepared as he was, only left the U.S. Senate upon his election to higher office by the majority of Americans, including the people who elected him to his previous post.

Her personal political career is essentially over, as I’ve said many times since her resignation. She might succeed in helping raise funds and rally support for conservative candidates, but Americans aren’t going to entrust the nuclear launch codes to an individual who didn’t even complete her first term as governor in order to pursue higher office three years from now.

Watch as Steven Crowder exposes the true Canadian health-care system. Contrary to what we’re told by the likes of Michael Moore and Barack Obama, it’s a living nightmare.

Crowder’s friend, pretending to have hurt his wrist in a skateboarding accident, attempts to visit the free clinic only to find it’s closed on the weekends. So, they make their way to the emergency room. After waiting four hours and realizing that someone in there with a broken clavical had already waited five, they departed. Making their way back to the free clinic on the following Monday, they were told that they couldn’t get a blood test and would need a family physician. The wait time for one?

Two years. And they’re told to purchase better health-care for over $900.

This is what we’re looking at if the Obama Administration succeeds in passing socialized health-care: Rather than great care for most, you end up with horrible and scarce care for everyone. Sound like paradise to you?

Norma McCorvey, better known under the pseudonym “Jane Roe”, was arrested for protesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s support of abortion rights during today’s Senate hearing. You know, “Roe” as in the plaintiff in the infamous and disatrous “Roe v. Wade” decision:

The woman at the center of the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion rights ruling was arrested today at the confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor among a wave of anti-abortion protesters who lined the sidewalks outside the Senate office buildings and several of whom made it into the hearing room and disrupted in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings.

Norma McCorvey, 61, of Texas, better known as “Jane Roe” in the famous Roe v. Wade case from January 1973, was arrested after she and another protester started yelling during the opening statement of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), according to Capitol Police. McCorvey, whose pursuit of the right to access to abortion in the early 1970s led to the ruling that has been a pivotal part of every Supreme Court nomination process since, eventually become a notable opponent of the procedure…

McCorvey, who used Roe as an alias in her court filings for fear of retribution, remained an abortion-rights supporter until the mid-1990s. Working at a women’s clinic in Dallas, she befriended some Operation Rescue protesters. In 1995, she was baptized and has been an anti-abortion activist ever since.

There’s enough irony there for your daily fill.

I know how much can you sympathize with them today, as we learn that the national deficit has hit $1 trillion for the first nine months of the fiscal year. Spending the nation into a debt that our great-great grandchildren will be paying off is a tiring venture, my friends.

In a city where work can border on obsession, the Obama staffers stand out. They are not quite the walking dead, but their eyes are frequently ringed with the bags that accompany exhaustion.

“This is a place, because of the stress, the schedule and the sheer hours, that just chews people up and spits them out,” said press secretary Robert Gibbs, whose alarm clock is set to 4:30 a.m., though he ignores the early ring more often these days.

All West Wings face fatigue at some point, but the Obama team has had a particularly frenetic start, the result of inheriting the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression and the team’s own seemingly chaotic drive to push an agenda that includes the creation of a new health insurance system, auto bailouts, Middle East peace, nuclear nonproliferation, two wars and education reform…

Obama is now testing the limits of his staffers’ endurance. So far, there is a palpable sense of pride in the West Wing that treaties are negotiated, complex legislation is crafted and banks are bailed out — all on very little sleep.

Omri Ceren is right, of course, when he says that the point of this story is to paint Obama staffers as such tireless, diligent individuals working around the clock to fix the nation’e economy. Just the latest hackish spinning from the adoring ObaMedia.

And we’re not even a full six months into the presidency of Barack Obama. Just imagine what that figure will look like in, say, November 2012.

Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time.

The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation, and already pressuring the value of the dollar. There’s also concern about trying to reverse the deficit — by reducing government spending or raising taxes — in the midst of a harsh recession.

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to nearly $1.1 trillion.

The deficit has been propelled by the huge sum the government has spent to combat the recession and financial crisis, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. Paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The country’s soaring deficits are making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

Would now be a bad time to point out that the White House and Congressional Democrats are toying with the idea of a second multi-billion dollar stimulus to nowhere? Or bring up their plans to spend over $1.4 trillion we don’t have on the socialization of health-care? Or maybe even the trillion dollar+ plan they have on climate change?

And let’s not forget the job-killing cap-and-trade, protectionist measures passed by the House that will cost American industry hundreds of billion of dollars every year, and the continued subsidization of recently-nationalized industries.

We’re on our way to hell and we’re traveling there in a hand-basket. Look down and you’ll see a road paved with good, and not-so good, intentions. Thanks, Obama. You really are making history; just not the kind fifty-two percent of Americans expected.

Via Michelle Malkin.

Steven Rattner, head of the Auto Industry Task Force charged with turning around the American auto industry, has resigned his post unexpectedly. He’ll apparently be replaced by a union lackey, so there’s not much to look forward to.

Steven Rattner, head of the Obama administration’s auto task force, is leaving that post and will be replaced by former steelworkers official Ron Bloom.

The administration said Monday that Rattner decided to return to private life and his family in New York City.

Rattner won praise for the job he did managing the massive restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. But his government service came under a cloud with an investigation of an influence peddling scandal back in New York.

Authorities have said that Rattner, an investment banker, was unlikely to face charges in the investigation which involved a giant state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for more than 1 million government employees.

Ed Morrissey calls into question the assertion made by the Associated Press that authorities have made such a statement. A search of Google News returns no such results except similar formulations as the assertion made here, but none cite a particular statement or press release. The only official statement seems to come from the White House, which hardly qualifies as authoritative or non-partisan in the area of possible charges against its employees.

I’m having trouble believing that a man who just received and accepted a cushy, bureaucratic job suddenly decides that he wants to spend more time with his family. He went from wanting to run the Auto Task Force in Washington to spending time with his family in New York within that short a period of time? Call me skeptical.

Anyway, it’s time to concentrate on the individual replacing Rattner, Ron Bloom. Bloom has apparently never worked in the auto industry and has even less experience in the business world than his predecessor. The only thing Bloom seems to have in his favor is that he’s a former union official. That’s not promising when the UAW is a chunk of what’s wrong with the American auto industry.

I know what you’re thinking: Barack Obama lying? It’s probably blowing your mind, contradicting everything you’ve ever known about The One. The man that represents Catholics better that the pope telling a tall-tale in order advance his interests? Heart-ache…

New research from a Chicago civic group takes direct aim at the city’s “abysmal” public high school performance — and puts a new spin on the academic gains made during the seven years that Arne Duncan led the Chicago schools before he was named U.S. Education secretary.

The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, a supporter of Duncan and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s push for more control of city schools, issued the report June 30. It says city schools have made little progress since 2003. …

In December, Obama said that during a seven-year tenure, Duncan had boosted elementary school test scores “from 38% of students meeting the standards to 67%” — a gain of 29 percentage points. But the new report found that, adjusting for changes in tests and procedures, students’ pass rates grew only about 8 percentage points.

Obama also said Chicago’s dropout rate “has gone downevery year he’s been in charge.” Though that’s technically true, the committee says it’s still unacceptably high: About half of Chicago students drop out of the city’s non-selective-enrollment high schools. And more than 70% of 11th-graders fail to meet state standards, a trend that “has remained essentially flat” over the past several years.

Even among those who graduate, it says, skills are poor: An analysis of students entering the Chicago City Colleges in fall 2006 showed that 69% were not prepared for college-level reading, 79% were not prepared for writing, and 95% were not prepared for math.

If his goal was to provide an education insufficient for a low-level career in waste disposal, Duncan clearly succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. However, I highly doubt that that was his vision.

Spinning the failure of a man being put in charge of our nation’s schools into a total success is nothing short of a complete disgrace. But then again, the fact Obama is disgraceful is hardly news.

Apparently its goal was to kill or capture…Al Qaeda leaders. You know, the people responsible for carrying out the 9/11 attacks? Yeah, them.

A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.

The precise nature of the highly classified effort isn’t clear, and the CIA won’t comment on its substance.

According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn’t become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.

In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. It isn’t clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.

So, Democrats are outraged that the Central Intelligence Agency had a secret plan to kill the world’s most wanted terrorists? A plan that never even became operational by the time it was ended this year?

Just to be clear: Democrats are upset that they were never briefed on an idea that was being tossed around but never became a program when it was discontinued. They are outrageously outraged that the CIA considered killing Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri during the war on terror. Wow.

Via Hot Air.

The media’s attempts to elevate Barack Obama to a religious pedestal takes a more pathetic turn today, as Newsweek publishes a letter from Kathleen Kennedy Townsend insisting that Barack Obama is a better representative for Catholics than…the Pope.

In truth, though, Obama’s pragmatic approach to divisive policy (his notion that we should acknowledge the good faith underlying opposing viewpoints) and his social-justice agenda reflect the views of American Catholic laity much more closely than those vocal bishops and pro-life activists. When Obama meets the pope tomorrow, they’ll politely disagree about reproductive freedoms and homosexuality, but Catholics back home won’t care, because they know Obama’s on their side. In fact, Obama’s agenda is closer to their views than even the pope’s. …

Notre Dame awarded the president an honorary degree because it saw the need to highlight the best of Catholic teaching as applied to politics: the ability to open the eyes of those who would prefer to keep them closed, and to open the hearts of those who would prefer not to know the pain that their actions cause. The pope has a lot to learn about Catholic politics in America. Barack Obama can teach him.

Notre Dame awarded Barack Obama an honorary degree because he’s the President of the United States. The university has awarded such degrees to non-Catholics from all walks of life be they representative of the American Catholic population or not. And let us not forget that the ceremony was met with large protests from American Catholics.

“Pragmatic approach”? The pope has to learn about American Catholic politics? This is the Roman Catholic church; not a social club. The church isn’t and shouldn’t be based on current public opinion. You’re not forced to remain in the church, so leave if you don’t like it. If you want to believe in what the religion teaches, then stay. It’s as simple as that.

This letter is some serious hackish spin. It’s a sad day when the propagandists on the left are actually insisting that Barack Obama is more suitable to lead Catholics than the fricken pope.

Thanks to Hot Air.

Peter Feaver (really) of Foreign Policy has a post up at the magazine’s Shadow Government blog, in which he notes the troubling way in which the Iranian government views President Obama. They see him as different than the rest of the western community, which strongly opposes the Islamic Republica’s nuclear program.

The Washington Post is spinning this comment from Ali Akbar Velayati, one of Iran’s former foreign ministers and an ally of the regime leader Ayatollah Khamenei, as a positive and hopeful sign: “America accepts a nuclear Iran, but Britain and France cannot stand a nuclear Iran.” It is true that this statement is, by Iranian standards, a compliment to President Obama, but I am not sure it is a very auspicious omen about the fruitfulness of any coming negotiations with Iran…

But it is dispiriting to see the Iranians praise Obama as someone who “gets it” — who gets that Iran really needs to be a nuclear power. I don’t think it is necessarily a fair assessment of Obama’s position, but it could be a fairly revealing indication of Iran’s position. And that depresses an already pessimistic assessment about the possibility of achieving a meaningful settlement with Iran that leaves Iran short of nuclear-weapons capability.

To be clear, Feaver doesn’t oppose Obama’s plan to negotiate with Iran before even considering taking military action. He feels that diplomatic options need to be fully exhausted, and I fully agree. You don’t go charging into another war if there’s even a slight possibility that the issue can be resolved peacefully.

However, the Obama Administration seeks no preconditions and has shown itself willing to punish our strongest allies in order to negotiate with a government that insists that its nuclear program is a closed issue. Negotiating with a nation pursuing an illegal weapons program is one thing; doing so through the punishment of allies and giving the regime a propaganda victory by crawling to them without even the slightest — even rhetorical — concession is quite another.

The Iranians seem to view Obama as so willing to avoid conflict that he’ll accept a nuclear Iran; that’s dangerous and ominous for future negotiations. You don’t go into negotiations with your enemy knowing that the worst that will happen if an agreement isn’t reached is that you’ll accept the outcome but with a statement of condemnation. They won’t take you seriously and will feel absolutely no pressure to buckle.

Cap-and-trade is being exposed as the job-killing legislation that it is? Socialized health-care bills are being met with opposition from the public and Blue Dog Democrats? Obama’s popularity rating has been trending downward? Time for a witchunt of the Bush Administration!

Attorney General Eric Holder is leaning toward launching a probe into the Bush administration’s torture policies, it was reported Saturday.

Sources told Newsweek that Holder, after months of careful consideration, appears likely to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate whether top Bush lawyers twisted the law in authorizing torture techniques.

The official decision could come in a matter of weeks. If Holder opts to investigate, it will almost certainly increase tensions in a White House that has insisted it wants to focus on the future.

Every single promise and statement of the Obama Administration comes with an expiration date. Every. Single. One. Obama spoke extensively about looking forward and not back, oftentimes at the expense of angering even those on his side of the aisle. But suddenly the Obama Justice Department is back to investigating the Bush Administration when shit is hitting the fan politically?

Everything with this administration is like a magic act: You have to watch what the other hand is doing at all times. The Chicago thugs running Washington have mastered the art of distraction, holding a shiny object with one hand while passing unpopular legislation with the other. If they can distract the public with investigations of the former administration, they just might succeed in drawing the attention away from the disastrous bills making their way through Congress.