Video:FL Sen. George LeMieux: “Where are the Skimmers?”

In case you haven’t seen this outrage yet – 2000 oil-sucking skimmers available in the United States alone, yet only a  paltry 20 skimmers are being used in the Gulf?….Because, as Obama patiently explains…. those other skimmers may be needed for other spills? WTF?! Here’s Senator LeMieux of FL on the Senate floor, yesterday:

Doug Ross asks What the hell is going on?

Today, Senator LeMieux spoke again about his continued efforts to draw more skimmers to aid in cleanup efforts of the BP oil spill.

And Ben Stein at The American Spectator has some further thoughts on the oil spill: The Elephant and the Obama Question, recapping some of the lowest moments, thus far.

And by “elephant”, he doesn’t mean Republicans….he means, literally elephants.

Did you know:

President Obama is the most anti-preservationist President in the postwar world. His administration is the first ever not to sign up for strict anti-whaling laws on a worldwide basis. His administration has refused to join with almost every other civilized nation to require Japan and Norway to stop killing whales. His administration is the first ever not to get behind the worldwide effort to ban the trade in ivory and thereby stop the slaughter of elephants in Africa.

Because of Mr. Obama’s explicit contempt for these noble and endangered creatures, African elephants and whales worldwide will be slaughtered almost to the point of extinction. When they are gone, will we remember that their precious blood is on his hands?

RELATED:

CBS video: Drill Ban Blocked

As the Gulf crisis continues, a judge lifted the White House’s moratorium on deepwater drilling. As Mark Strassmann reports, oil workers were pleased, but the White House plans to appeal the ruling.

More on this at The Other McCain: Judge Blocks Obama Administration Offshore Drilling Ban; UPDATE: Text of Ruling; Obama Vows to Appeal Decision

MORE:

Insanity:

AoSHQ: Feds Shutting Down Sand Berms

Via Jim Treacher and about all of Twitter, the Federal government is shutting down the dredging that Louisiana was using to construct sand berms to keep the oil off the coastline.

Missouri Passes Health Care Freedom Act

Patrick Tuohey of The Missouri Record brings Missourians these glad tidings:

The Missouri General Assembly passed the Health Care Freedom Act, placing on the August 3 primary ballot an opportunity for voters to approve a bill that would, “deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services.”

This referendum is remarkable for two reasons: (1) it gives voters a direct opportunity to affect the health care debate and (2) it is the first such vote in the nation, driving the debate for the next three months until the general election.

The committee urging a vote to protect our health care rights is called Missourians for Health Care Freedom, and our webpage is www.mohealthfreedom.org.  While only Missourians can vote on this matter on August 3, this is in every way a national battle—and it is the next battle in the fight for individual rights.  Whether you are in California, Florida, or some place in between, please consider riding to the sound of the guns and supporting us in our fight.  A victory in the Show-Me State will show Washington that Americans value our liberty and will not easily surrender it.

Mark your calendars and pass the word.

Hat tip: Gateway Pundit

KC Tea Party: “Proud To Be An American”, July 3rd, 2010

July 4th, 2009

I’m starting to see “July 4th tea party KC” search words in my stats, so I thought I’d share this tea party  info from Political Chips, the Kansas City area’s premiere tea party organization:

Time: July 3, 2010 from 9am to 11am
Location: State Line
Street: State Line
Event Type: celebration
Organized By: Political Chips

Let’s continue where we left off last year by lining both sides of State Line on July 3rd beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bring your patriotic signs, banners, and flags. Join us for a great time while honoring our Vets, Troops, and the greatest Country in the world.

I’m waiting to hear back from Alex Poulter re where exactly on State Line people are gathering. Last year, it was between 125th and 135th streets on both sides. I’m assuming it will be the same, this year.

You can find more free tea party sign artwork, here.

UPDATE:

Alex Poulter emails back that Political Chips plans to setup a little stage and sound system on the sidewalk in front of the Capital Federal Bank.  The approximate location / cross street is on the southwest side of 127th & State Line..

UPDATE:

The exact location is 135th and State Line.

RELATED:

4th Of July Poke Cake Recipe

Crystal-Clear McChrystal

Are we sick of hearing about General McChrystal’s Rolling Stone interview, yet? I don’t know what to make of it, myself…. talk about buyer’s remorse:

Even though he had voted for Obama, McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much
better. “It was a 10-minute photo op,” says an adviser to McChrystal. “Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his fucking war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.”

The Rolling Stone editor says McChrystal saw the piece before it was published and didn’t object….so, apparently he didn’t mind if it got back to the White House, which of course, it would. One could even assume that he wanted it to get back to the White House – but why???

Most pundits on the right are saying, this was not a shrewd move on McChrystal’s part. Captain Ed says it best:

That is the kind of revelation that either a commander of a theater of war saves for his memoirs, or resigns to make to Congress. During the war, however, the expectation is that all sides refrain from airing this kind of dirty laundry. McChrystal appears not to know that. Worse yet, these and other anecdotes from his inner circle appear to show that McChrystal either tolerates or actively encourages disrespect for the civilian leadership that runs the US military.

According to Byron York, McChrystal has a history of bad-mouthing civilian leaders, but why would he do it so publicly, and to a President who is famously “thin skinned”, and “ass-kicking”?

James Pinkerton at Fox News doesn’t think that Obama will fire McChrystal:

My guess is that McChrystal will survive his post. The words attributed to him and his team in Rolling Stone–he felt “betrayed” by the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan; James Jones, the national security adviser, is a “clown”; and, perhaps most stark of all, he regarded “the wimps in the White House” as an enemy–were pretty strong, bordering on insubordination, and yet his apology was pretty abject.

And Obama really can’t afford to fire McChrystal in 2010, as Lincoln fired McClellan in 1862, and as Truman fired MacArthur in 1951. If the president does fire McChrystal, his administration will then see an enormous blow-up over Afghanistan policy, with critics on both the hawkish right and the dovish left pounding away at the commander in chief in the muddled middle.

Moreover, Obama might think to himself that if he fires McChrystal, he will be minting a possible new Republican presidential or vice presidential candidate to oppose him in 2012.

Why are we  assuming he’d run on a Republican ticket if he voted for Obama? I don’t know about you, but that was the most disturbing aspect of the story for me.

UPDATE:

There are conflicting reports about McChrystal resigning….did he or didn’t he?

The last update at Sister Toldjah’s: Clarification from Joe Klein: Gen. McChrystal as “offered to resign” he has NOT submitted his resignation.

A top aide to General McChrystal did resign.

UPDATE II:

Video: Obama Announces McChrystal’s Resignation

White House Denies John Kyl’s Immigration Claim

Yesterday,  AZ Senator Jon Kyl’s  shocking claim that in a private meeting, Obama told him: “If we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform”, was widely reported.

Today,  White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer reinforced the claim, while simultaneously denying it:

“The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it. There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before, but as the President has made clear, truly securing the border will require a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.”

In other words, no border security without our “comprehensive solution”.

And excuse me?:  “There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before”?

What’s that supposed to mean? There’s more need for border security than ever before, and the Obama administration is engaging in kabuki theater, while cutting resources:

New Border Patrol report garners little attention from Obama, lawmakers:

The Obama Administration is considering a decrease in the number of Border Patrol agents deployed at the US-Mexican in the upcoming months, according to law enforcement sources in Washington, DC.

President cuts border security budget

While telling the American people that national security is a priority in his administration, President Barack Obama submitted a 2011 budget proposal that includes cuts to U.S. border security.

The proposed budget cuts include a reduction in Border Patrol agents and a cut in the amount of money allocated for the so-called “virtual fence” on the U.S.-Mexico border, which critics claim is a pipe dream in lieu of a real border fence

Border Patrol Charged Millions for Habitat Damage, Republicans Say Enough ‘Extortion’

The Department of Homeland security, which houses the Border Patrol, last year signed a deal with Interior — the administrator of America’s parklands — to cough up $50 million for environmental “mitigation” needed in the wake of the construction of a border fence. That was after DHS had already spent or committed millions more for expected environmental damage caused by the Border Patrol over the years.

In other words “resources dedicated toward border security” are going to the Dept of the Interior instead.

Jill Strait, spokeswoman for ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee Rep. Doc Hastings, said it’s in the Interior Department’s best interest to ease those fees.

“This is taking valuable money away from Border Patrol that is supposed to be used to safeguard our nation,” she said. “Border Patrol is helping to protect against environmental damage, so that should be considered appropriate mitigation in itself.”

Anyhoo….

Media Matters huffed: Right-wing media push Kyl’s flatly denied claim that Obama said he won’t “secure the border” (no link for those scumbags), as if a denial from this White House has any credibility at all,  after its Sestak and Romanoff Job offer denials.

Good one.

Linked by Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, thanks!

UPDATE:

Megyn Kelly covered this story on her show, earlier today:

Senator Kyl stands by his account.

“America’s Putin” and The BP Oil Spill Escrow Fund

Michael Barone, who coined the term, “thugocracy”, has penned the must read of the day: Obama’s Thuggery Is Useless in Fighting Spill

Thuggery is unattractive. Ineffective thuggery even more so. Which may be one reason so many Americans have been reacting negatively to the response of Barack Obama and his administration to BP’s gulf oil spill.

Read the whole thing. It’s basically a recap of the bumbling thuggery that has characterized the Obama administration’s reaction to the Gulf oil spill from the beginning.  Barone is particularly concerned about the $20 billion escrow fund Obama forced on BP:

…there’s the $20 billion escrow fund that Obama pried out of the BP treasury at the White House when he talked for the first time, 57 days after the rig exploded, with BP Chairman Tony Hayward. It’s pleasing to think that those injured by BP will be paid off speedily, but House Republican Joe Barton had a point, though an impolitic one, when he called this a “shakedown.”

For there already are laws in place that ensure that BP will be held responsible for damages, and the company has said it will comply. So what we have is government transferring property from one party, an admittedly unattractive one, to others, not based on pre-existing laws but on decisions by one man, pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

Even The left-leaning Economist, (which endorsed Obama in Oct. ’08), is getting nervous:

If he sees any impropriety in politicians ordering executives about, upstaging the courts and threatening confiscation, he has not said so. The collapse in BP’s share price suggests that he has convinced the markets that he is an American version of Vladimir Putin, willing to harry firms into doing his bidding.

Here are some reactions to this from the Right:

Christian Whiton, Fox News: The BP Victims Fund and Obama’s Lawless Ways

There is already a well-established legal process for remedying the economic cost of someone else’s negligence. Every day, thousands of Americans sue other individuals or companies, either by themselves or via class actions that combine their efforts. The design and rules of these legal processes are laid out in laws crafted by Congress and state legislatures.

BP’s $20 billion was extracted outside of this legal framework for reasons that have not been explained. There is a high risk that this fund will be doled out based on political, not legal criteria. Rather than judges and juries making decisions, an economic commissar will.

DRJ Patterico’s Pontifications: Using the $20B BP “Escrow” Funds

Rush: Organized Crime in White House: The Regime’s Shakedown of BP

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I find myself apparently in a minority position, just as you do, too.  I checked the e-mail during the break, and I got a lot of e-mails.  “How dare you defend BP?  Are you nuts?  Do you want the Democrats to win the election?  You gotta jump on BP.  There’s no defending BP!” I’m not defending BP. I’m standing for the rule of law.  We have a legal system to ensure that corporations are held accountable.  We have free market aspects that ensure that in civil and criminal matters.  We have a legal system to deal with it.  Now the executive branch has just said the legislative branch, the judicial branch, neither matter.  We’re just going to come in and we are the law.  Take over a private industry, the auto industry. If they want to, they can do it.  I’m not defending BP here.

I’m trying to defend the US Constitution, the American way of life, American exceptionalism, what it was that made this country great.

And in the American Thinker, today: Is Obama’s BP Shakedown an Impeachable Offense?:

The president has no legal authority to create the escrow fund and no authority to compel BP to contribute to the fund. Forcing BP to agree to the terms of the escrow is ultra vires (i.e., illegal), beyond the powers of his office. Rep. Barton (R-TX) accurately described the slush fund as a “shakedown” (i.e., blackmail), a felony. If so, Pres. Obama has committed an impeachable offense. Congress itself does not have the authority to create the escrow fund retroactively. Congress will have no voice at all except to vilify any Republican who raises questions about it.

And there’s the rub. Will Republicans give Obama a pass on this because they know Americans are justifiably enraged with BP, and it’s bad politics to speak out against it? Rahm Emanuel calls Republican criticism of the fund, a political gift.”

“A political gift” was the free room and board, Emanuel got from that BP consultant, but never-mind that. Will the Republicans screw up their courage after they’re through raking Barton over the coals for apologizing to BP, and criticize this thing properly?

Obama tells Jon Kyl: “If we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform”

In considering whether or not to secure the AZ border, what do you suppose is  the deciding factor for this President? The safety of American citizens in the area, or political expediency? The answer comes at 3:40:

As Kyl said…he’s holding  border security, (and by extension, at risk American citizens) hostage.

One trip to SecureBorderIntel.org/ should be enough to convince anyone that there’s a crisis on our southern border. Here’s a video of armed drug smugglers, taken last December:

Last March, an Arizona rancher was shot multiple times by an illegal immigrant, who authorities believe was headed back to Mexico to work as a scout for drug smugglers.

A Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy was ambushed and wounded by suspected drug smugglers on April 30.

AZ Governor, Jan Brewer, has been begging the President to help her state secure its border:

“I said we need to have the fence completed, have more troops on the border and more resources” for aerial surveillance, she said.

How did the President respond?

Obama urged her to “be his partner” in working toward a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s fractured immigration system.

This is the same argument we had three years ago. The pro-comprehensive immigration reform forces lost, last time around, with the general consensus being, secure the borders first…then we’ll talk about reform.

The same is true, today: A Gallup poll in May, found that 9 out of 10 Americans want the border secured, this year….

Rasmussen reported June 18:

Most voters have consistently criticized the federal government for not doing enough to secure the border.

Among voters who are angry about immigration, 83% are angry at the federal government. Only 12% direct their anger at the immigrants themselves.

While Americans continue to strongly support efforts that will slow or stop illegal immigration, most also still favor a generally welcoming policy of legal immigration. However, a sizable majority continue to say as they have for years that it is more important to gain control of the border than it is to legalize the status of undocumented workers.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of U.S. voters say military troops should be sent to the Mexican border to help prevent illegal immigration.

But, as we should all understand by now, a little thing like what most Americans want, won’t have any bearing whatsoever on what this administration does.

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

An Artist Illustrates a Tea Party Masterpiece

I think Jon McNaughten captured the spirit of the tea party movement much better than Chrissy Matthews, with a whole staff of propagandists at MSNBC working with Media Matters hacks, could ever hope to.

Hat tip: Cathy

Your Sunday Hymn: O God Beyond All Praising

I love this gorgeous hymn, words and music, alike…it’s like buttah.

You love it so much, you want to sing along, don’t you? Well, here you go:

And this is special. This young girl sang the hymn a cappella at St. Ann’s Chapel in Jerusalem:

Did you notice that she flubbed the words at the end? Probably not. A good singer will improvise if she forgets the lyrics. She ended the song beautifully, with her own made up words.

Video: The Three Terrors

Another winner from Latma TV.

Watch while you can. This one will almost certainly suffer the same fate as We Con The World, by The Flotilla Singers.

Hat tip: Kat From Cathouse Chat.

Bob Etheridge vs “The Duke”

Guaranteed to make you chuckle or your money back:

Swiped from Moonbattery, who swiped it from SondraK, who swiped it from Brutally Honest who swiped it from Don Surber, thanks, guys!

Big F’n Deal: Obama’s Trip To Columbus, OH For 10 Minute Speech Cost Taxpayers Between $500,000 and $1 million.

(Credit: CBS/Mark Knoller)

Yeah, it’s also true that Obama, once again, goofed on Biden’s “Big f’n deal remark that he thinks is so funny…(*cringe* – it’s not):

Trumpeting the 10,000th road project funded by his Recovery Act, President Obama borrowed two of three words made famous in March by Vice President Biden.

This is a “big….deal,” said Mr. Obama, pausing for effect between the two words between which Biden had inserted an expletive in an overheard whisper three months ago.

I know. They said if we elected Democrats, grown-ups would be in charge. Instead, it feels like we’re being governed by frat boys. But that’s besides the point.

I’m getting sick of this President constantly spending taxpayer money to fly around on Air Force One for his never-ending campaign. It’s not cheap, as Mark Knoller pointed out:

The trip Columbus probably cost taxpayers between $500,000 and $1 million.

Air Force One alone bills out at $100,000 per hour, and the round trip is nearly two hours. Adding to the cost are military aircraft to carry limos and secret service vehicles, Marine One on standby, Secret Service, local police and other factors.

Apparently, Ohio voters disapprove of Obama  more than in any other state, so I don’t know how going out there to give another annoying speech is going to help with that.

Knoller did a little sniping about Obama’s Earth Day traveling, as well:

Obama Earth Day Flights Burned More Than 9,000 Gallons Of Fuel:

President Obama could have saved at least 9,116 gallons of fuel by giving his speech at the White House – but no wind turbines are manufactured here.

Hear hear! That’s what I say.

Last year, Obama set a record for traveling more in his first year, than any other President:

DOMESTIC TRAVEL: 46 out-of-town trips to 58 cities and towns in 30 states
• Most frequently visited state by Mr. Obama: New York* (excluding Maryland & Virginia, which border DC and to which visits are more local than out-of-town).
• President George W. Bush made appearances in 39 states during his 1st year.
• President Clinton visited 22 states in 1993, his first year.

FOREIGN TRAVEL: 10 foreign trips to 21 nations (4 of them twice).
• Mr. Obama made more trips abroad in his first year than has any other U.S. President.
• Next most frequent foreign traveler during first year in office was President George H.W. Bush: 7 trips to 14 countries.

He also broke the record for the most traveled freshman Senator…oh yes, MSNBC reported this in Feb, 2007:

Obama most costly freshman world traveler:

Barack Obama’s two years in the Senate have taken him around the world, from Russia to Iraq to Kenya – an itinerary more costly to taxpayers than any other senator who took office with him.

The Illinois Democrat’s travels in 2005 and 2006 cost taxpayers nearly $28,000 as he studied nuclear proliferation, AIDS, Middle Eastern violence and more.

Eight other freshmen senators took office in 2005, and about $19,200 was the most anyone spent for government-paid travel, according to reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

You see a trend, here? The dude likes to travel. Because he’s a citizen of the world….He likes to go go go on lots of working trips and vacations, and he doesn’t see a problem with doing all that excessive traveling on the taxpayers’ dime, during a recession, because for Obama, the agenda, and his ego comes first.

I for one, would be happy if he would just stay home and golf.

See Also:

Pundette, who  in More of the same from Obama brings  up one good reason Obama is unpopular in Ohio:

House GOP Leader John Boehner, who represents Ohio’s 8th Congressional District, said the administration’s stimulus program has fallen short of its promises. He cited new numbers from the Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services that showed the state’s unemployment rate “remained above 10 percent for the 14th consecutive month in May:”

Linked by Michelle Malkin, Buzzworthy, and Pundit and Pundette, thanks!

Introducing Mike Stopa (R-MA) For Congress

Me likey:

His website, here.

Stopa’s for repealing ObamaCare…

More Repub candidates like this, please!

Hat tip: Instapundit, who notes that those Obama kid videos are already impossibly dated.

Who could have predicted that the magic would wear off.

Obama’s Poll Numbers Still Inexplicably High

Captain Ed notes that he no longer gets a bounce after one of his ridiculous speeches. It’s nice to know that people are finally catching on, but still….41% of the people out there still approve of the job he’s doing? Seriously?

Get back to me when he drops into the 20s where he belongs. Then, maybe, I’ll be impressed.

“Unacceptable!”: Obama Breaks Promise To Jan Brewer

Greta Van Susteren spoke with AZ Governor, Jan Brewer, last night by phone, after having interviewed her in person, the day before in Arizona.  Brewer expressed her great disappointment in Obama for his failure to keep his promise of getting back to her after their meeting at the White House two weeks ago. He was supposed to let her know what he decided on sending National Guard troops to AZ to protect the border. The two weeks were up, yesterday, revealing yet another empty promise from Obama:

Video Via HotAirPundit

You can donate to Keep AZ Safe, here.

Partial transcript via Fox News:

VAN SUSTEREN: Governor, you can’t see the picture on your screen, but we just looked at a picture of you and President Obama two weeks ago in the Oval Office, when he — when you were here, and I think the — at least the observation I have is he was sort of pressured into seeing you because you were in town and you’d been asking to see him.

But he made some promises about some deployment of National Guard, and you were going to hear within two weeks what the federal government — what President Obama had decided. We asked you last night when we were Arizona. You still hadn’t heard, but you said today was the last day for the two- week period. Have you heard anything today?

BREWER: We have not. And you know, I was so hopeful. I really was hopeful that today that during early hours that we would hear from the Obama administration. But unfortunately, now it is night and we have not heard a word in regards to what they’re going to deploy or how many troops we’re going to get. And I am really disappointed.

What can I say? You know, you make a commitment — you know, people there with us, we all heard the same thing, two weeks. And so that was our drop-dead date. So I’ll be anxious to just hear what we hear in the next couple of days. I’m hopeful that we can reach out to him tomorrow in some manner and get some answers to this. This is unacceptable! Unacceptable!

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, he promised two weeks, and he didn’t get it, so what was that, just a photo-op of the two of you in the Oval Office? I mean, what do you make of that?

BREWER: Well, you know what I make of it? I think that the people of Arizona and the people of America put a lot of pressure on this issue and that they responded to kind of cool it down. And I think they thought maybe they could go away and placate us. Unfortunately, they didn’t. I think by the actions that we’ve experienced now today and with no comments from the White House back to my office in regards to their promise, and then the action that took place down in Ecuador with Secretary Clinton, you know, it’s just going to make people that much more outraged at the administration.

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again – Obama just says what he he feels he needs to say in order to get through the day. It doesn’t necessarily have to have any basis in reality.

Case in point.

UPDATE:

Confirmed:WH will sue the state of Az for SB1070.

Captain Ed:

Wow … just wow.  What a tremendously incompetent manner in which to announce the decision.  The Obama administration informed the Ecuadorian people of this decision before the White House informed Americans.

Unacceptable!

See also:

Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin: Justice Dept. Confirms Lawsuit Against Arizona, Ecuador Just Nods and Says ‘We Know’

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

Linked  by Michelle Malkin, Buzzworthy, Theo Spark, RWN, American Power and DaTechGuy,  thanks!