Video: Eric Holder Faces Contempt Charges For Obstructing Justice In Operation Fast and Furious Probe

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, discusses the constitutional authority of Congress when issuing a lawfully issued subpoena to the Executive Branch during a Full Committee hearing entitled, “Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?” on June 13, 2011.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air asks:

How high does this go? Barack Obama insists that he knew nothing of either operation, and Holder has denied prior knowledge of it as well. If that’s true, then why not provide Oversight the documentation they requested? After all, executive privilege wouldn’t apply if Obama knew nothing of the operation. We’ll see if the White House wants to engage in a fight over a contempt citation, and if they do, it will show that they think that path is less damaging than the transparency Obama insists that his administration provides.

Take this with a grain of salt but -White House Insider 6/10:

Obama had a recent “meeting” with some of his former top advisers very recently. In my line of work that means only one thing.  This administration is absolutely          sh-tting itself right now.  The cover is being blown off, the fingers of blame are being pointed, and discussions over who is going to take the fall are happening this very moment. 

WeinerGate a “Distraction” Says White House – “Dishonesty Inappropriate”

Glenn McCoy cartoon via Townhall.

The Hill Reports:

A White House spokesman said Monday that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is a “distraction” from important issues, but he stopped short of calling for Weiner’s resignation.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, who refused to comment on the scandal last week, said Monday that “the president feels, we feel at the White House this is a distraction.”

While some  are calling this another example of Obama voting “present”, most pundits say this is as far as a President should go without overtly calling for Weiner’s resignation:

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air says:

The reluctance to publicly demand a resignation may get some criticism, but it’s probably best to avoid such a call.  The legislative branch should be left to handle its own affairs, and a President does best to stay out of those kinds of demands … publicly, at least.  The role of demanding a resignation should be left to Congressional leaders.  Otherwise, it threatens (at least rhetorically) the independence and co-equality of the branches of government.

Of course, the fact that Obama had to issue any kind of statement on Weiner is an obvious escalation in the effort to push Weiner into a resignation.  By making this statement, the message is made clear that Weiner does not have the support of the President, especially when scolding Weiner for his dishonesty.  It piles on more pressure on Weiner, and it also tells him that Democrats are not inclined to allow the scandal to quietly go away as Weiner clearly hopes.

Keith Koffler at White House Dossier concurs:

While the wording is hedged, the message is very unambiguous: President Obama wants Weiner to resign.

The subtle wording could be due to the sensitivity of Obama’s position: Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin is a close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Wiener and his wife were married by Bill Clinton. But the clear signal for Weiner to quit shows either that the Clinton’s have green lighted the move or the White House feels the political need to get rid of the Wiener issue outweighs any concerns that the Clintons might have.

What struck me about the White House statement? This:

“As Congressman Weiner has said himself, his behavior was inappropriate, dishonesty was inappropriate,” Carney said, briefing reporters aboard Air Force One. “But the president is focused on his job, which is getting this economy…. blablablapolitical boilerplateblablablabla.

When is dishonesty appropriate? When Obama does it?

I only ask because the Obama regime has not exactly been the epitome of honesty and integrity for the past few. Obama, who follows the Alinsky method, lies  as a matter of course. For him it’s always been a means to an end, therefore he’s a shameless and prolific liar. Let us not forget that. To have this White House questioning another Democrat’s honesty…..sheesh —that guy had to have screwed up beyond repair for Obama to question the appropriateness of his dishonesty.

UPDATE:

Gateway Pundit: Breaking: Obama Tells NBC “I Would Resign” If I Was a Penis-Tweeting Liar

No he wouldn’t. He’d go golfing.

Monday Morning Catch-Up

Glenn Foden cartoon via Townhall

Here are the important stories you may have missed if you were busy having a life, last weekend. We don’t fault you for that here at Nice Deb. Sometimes she does the same thing.

First up –Weiner. Yes, he’s done. You can finally “stick a fork in him”. I said from the beginning that he wouldn’t survive this scandal – and I was right. Taint no way, now. As Weiner faces increased calls for him to resign, the story has officially entered the “professional treatment” phase, which Weiner clearly wanted to avoid when the scandal first broke.

Big Government: New Weiner Photos Hit The Internet:

The photos posted Sunday were purportedly taken in the House members’ gym and show a shirt-less Weiner with a towel around his waist and his hand on his crotch. TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, spoke of Weiner’s “bizarre and unacceptable behavior” in texting inappropriate pictures of himself to young women. Hoyer said it would be “extraordinarily difficult” for Weiner to continue to represent his constituents effectively.

Weiner announced Saturday that he was entering professional treatment at an undisclosed location and wanted a leave of absence from Congress. A statement from an aide did not say where he would receive treatment or what type was involved.

And this doesn’t look good…

Big Government: Weiner Staff Heading For The Exits?

BigGovernment has learned from a confidential source on Capitol Hill that, starting tomorrow, Rep. Weiner’s DC staff will depart for other Congressional offices. According to our source, staff from Democrat leadership assembled Rep. Weiner’s staff and offered to assist them finding positions in other offices. Finding positions for everyone in Weiner’s DC office could take a week or two.

In the face of all this, Weiner is apparently finally considering he may have to resign:

A source close to the congressman told the Daily News that he had been adamant about keeping his seat – even amid daily new revelations of his reckless sexting.

But the unrelenting media coverage, the demands from his party’s leaders that he step down and the appearance of more humiliating photos made Weiner realize he may not be able to bull his way through the crisis after all, the source said.

TMZ published a new slew of squirm-inducing self-portraits, apparently taken in the House gym – some clothed, some not.

Several show Weiner showing off his naked body holding only his camera and his privates. In others, he is clothed or draped in a white towel, flexing his muscles as he holds a camera up to his reflection in a locker room mirror.

TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman and said the House gym venue raises new questions about his use of congressional resources for his salacious cybering.

See also Patterico: My Chat With Gennette Cordova (By Aaron with Skeptical Updates from Patterico) (UPDATE: Gennette Appears in Comments and Refuses to Answer Patterico’s Questions) and Sunday Weiner Notes.

Can’t beat this: Toy Company Introduces Anthony Weiner Action Figure

One more – in which John at Cold Fury shows off his impressive photoshop skills: Coincidence? I think NOT

 

***

There was some buzz over the weekend about Doug Ross’s post on the Obama and Netanyahu meeting, and Obama’s continued betrayal: Narcissistic Rage, Envy, and Revenge at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:

Keep in mind, one of his sources is Ulsterman, who writes the gossipy White House Insider reports.

But it does look like the White House is exacting revenge by bullying Israel to negotiate with Abbas even though none of the pre conditions have been met on the Palestinian side. This is via Jennifer Rubin’s report in the WaPo:

Is the U.S. president pressuring Israel to adopt a position that is not its own and diminishes its bargaining position? And what happened to the statements in President Obama’s speech to AIPAC that Israel could not be expected to sit down with those who want to destroy it? After all Hamas has not yet agreed to the Quartet principles (recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and abide by past agreements), nor has Mahmoud Abbas separated himself from the unity government.

…Is the administration now asking Israel to sit down with Abbas absent a commitment by Hamas or a break-up of the unity government? By gosh, that should be an easy answer (“No!”) , yet the administration won’t say.

…This is a very, very big deal. Former deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams explained to me Friday evening: “I hope news reports of what the Obama White House is privately demanding of Israel are wrong. If the reports are right, the U.S. is now abandoning the Quartet Principles — and asking Israel to negotiate with a Palestinian side that includes Hamas without Hamas taking one single step away from terror.

Rubin spoke with Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), “who plainly was angry over the continued effort to bully Israel … ‘President Obama never learns. His real instinct is to weaken Israel. You don’t treat an ally this way.’ He said he has never seen this sort of behavior from any U.S. president [and] the current posture is ‘shameful.’“

It was so obvious to me, in early ’08, after I had started looking at Obama’s background, and his associations that he was going to be no friend to Israel. Many of us on the right could see this, and we rang alarm bells with all of our might.

On the bright side – both Democrat and Republican members of Congress were anxious to show their support of Netanyahu when he spoke before them. Will they allow Obama to continue antagonizing an ally?

***

You may have heard a report last week that Margaret Thatcher didn’t want to meet with Sarah Palin when she visits the UK because, “she’s nuts”. There was immediately widespread doubt that Thatcher would ever say such a thing, and this report furthers that assumption:

Gateway Pundit: Thatcher Foundation Responds to the ‘Palin Was Snubbed’ Report Saying, “The Guardian Has Minimal Credibility”

***

Lots of buzz also about a surprising post from John Ziegler in which he channels me. Or maybe I’ve been channeling John Ziegler for the past two years. My point is – we have exactly the same take on Sarah Palin, although he knows her much better than I do…

The Sarah Palin I know:

Now, with Sarah’s bus tour of historic sites seemingly completed, and the biggest decision of her life directly in front of her, I wish her the best—I genuinely do. Without a doubt, she’s been subjected to the most biased media coverage in modern political history; enough to leave even the most thick-skinned of candidates shivering in the fetal position on the side of the road. Instead, she’s survived and, in many ways, prospered. For that, I will always respect and admire her. Everyone should.

However, what she appears to be currently doing is almost certainly destructive to her cause and her country. I say this as the guy who risked $300,000 of his life savings to produce the very first pro-Sarah documentary back in 2009 (and the only one with her participation), while putting everything on the line to fight countless battles on her behalf—such as demonstrating outside David Letterman’s studios in New York after the late night talk show host made a joke about 14-year-old Willow Palin getting “knocked up,” being dragged away in handcuffs from a laughable awards ceremony for the liberal ‘news’ anchor Katie Couric, getting regularly attacked as a guest by liberal hosts on MSNBC, and responding with $100,000 offers to charity to debate them on her behalf.

I’ve fought so hard for Sarah, I’m almost unemployable.

But in spite of being approached by Sarah’s husband Todd only a month ago and specifically discussing the possibility, I won’t be working on any Palin presidential campaign. Why? Well, first of all, contrary to what geniuses like Andrew Sullivan and Howard Dean may want you to believe, there is absolutely no way that she can be elected. I’ve told this to her directly; more than once. While many pundits mistakenly think what she is doing is some Trump-like PR stunt, I’m pretty convinced she is running and in doing so will damage the prospects of any conservative defeating Barack Obama in 2012.

***

Here is where Ziegler’s feelings completely match mine:

The worst part about the resignation from a political narrative perspective is that it also stripped away Palin’s greatest strength. She is clearly a fighter but it is impossible to make “She will fight for you” the cornerstone of a campaign when she just quit her only big job, seemingly for personal gain.

What Palin and her many supporters apparently refuse to accept is that Palin is the Bo Jackson of modern Republican politics. She was a natural, but that talent has been taken away by circumstances beyond her control.

She once was a moderate conservative with the ability to appeal to Democrats and the charisma to energize Republicans. Not since Reagan has there been as gifted a politician as her and, because she is an attractive woman with a powerful personal story, you could easily argue she exceeded even the Gipper in overall political potential. I also believe her to be smarter than Reagan.

But like Jackson, she was cut down by “injury” in the prime of her career. The media-induced knee-capping during the 2008 election and its aftermath was grossly unfair, but it was also comprehensive and complete. Like Jackson after his freak hip injury, she still looked the same and could still plausibly play the game, but the magic was gone. It isn’t her fault and it is a travesty of justice, but to not recognize and accept that would be highly detrimental to the team. Jackson soon realized this; Palin apparently has not yet done so (or, potentially even worse, has, and just doesn’t care as much about the team as her brand).

Read the whole thing. What should be absolutely clear is that although Ziegler remains fond of Palin – (just as I am),  if she really has made her mind up to run, and by all appearances, it looks like she has, he shares my opinion that she is hurting the party, and ruining our chances of beating Obama in 2012. That is the political reality.

-

And please don’t hate us for not being on board the Palin Express. If she should win the Republican Primary, we will come on board. There should be no question about that. But it will feel like 2008 all over again —- and that is not a good place to be.

-

At Red State, Erick Erickson chastised the Palinistas who have gone after Ziegler in the wake of his column: On John Ziegler: How Easy We Trash Our Friends

I’m just going to say that a quick review of conservatives on twitter reads like the insane ramblings of lefties after the 7,000 extra votes were found for Judge Prosser in Wisconsin. They read like the insane ramblings of lefties who suddenly see a Democrat come out critical of Barack Obama.

We should be better than that and perhaps we might just want to hold out a modicum of recognition for the several years of attacks John Ziegler has withstood for defending Sarah Palin and maybe consider his sincerity instead of descending with lefty like relish directly into attacks on his motives.

Whether you agree with him or not, as much as you might say shame on him for daring to write what he wrote, I’d say shame on you for immediately questioning him, his motives, and loyalties. In fact, it’s not the first time these sorts of concerns have been raised by people on the right who have direct experience in the matter.

Ed Morissey has a poll up at Hot Air: Ziegler: Palin can’t beat Obama

Is Palin unelectable in a general election?

Amazingly enough, the majority are saying she’s more electable than other Republicans. Coming in a close second place  is the less electable position.

***

For a decidedly pessimistic view of where the US economy is headed see Noisy Room: An American Descent Into Hell.

It’s hard not to see the signs all around us that America has begun a cataclysmic downward spiral in finances and morality. It’s like watching a slow motion murderous wreck, all the while denying that it is actually occurring. I assure you, what is unfolding in the US now is all too real. It’s a reality that is about to smack Americans full frontal in the face and many will never even see it coming until it is way too late.

It is hard for me to imagine how people cannot see what is happening in finances and in politics in their own country. It is in the news if you look at all… It is on the Internet for all to see… It is whispered by many all around us if you just listen.

The stock market has gone down for the last 6 weeks in a row. And if stock futures are to be believed at all, things will not be good Monday morning this next week. The last time the stock market dropped seven weeks in a row was in 2001 when the dot.com bubble burst. I have said for a long, long time that the stock market is fiction and is being manipulated. But they are running out of ways to fake recovery and growth – they can’t hide forever just how bad things are about to become. We are in free fall economically and stand to not only enter another great depression, but a great, great depression in the next twelve months. Only this time, we don’t have manufacturing or a winnable war to bring us out of it. Obama has ensured that – he has masterfully implemented Cloward and Piven at every turn and we have just sat here allowing him to do it.

Fox News covers a the shocking results of a study of 100 mosques in the US in which “incubation of Jihad” is taking place:

FRANK GAFFNEY ON SHARIA IN AMERICA:

Gaffney’s right about Weinergate dominating the news. I could find only a single story on Peter King’s next round of hearings focusing on prison recruitment: He’s back! Rep. Peter King announces a second Muslim Radicalization hearing by Cynthia Hodges at The Examiner:

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King announced plans to hold a second Muslim Radicalization hearing, this one titled “ The  Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization  in U.S. Prisons will be held on Wednesday. The focus of the second in a series of hearings will be the U.S. prison system.

Congressman King argues that the hearing is necessary due to a reported increase in cases in which inmates have been radicalized at the hands of jailed terrorists and extremist imam chaplains.

Last week Rep. King released a statement describing the second hearing’s agenda saying, “We will focus on a number of the serious cases in which radicalized current and former inmates have planned and launched attacks or attempted to join overseas Islamic terrorist organizations.”

The panel will hear testimony from both U.S. and international experts on the issue and from those intimately involved in recent prison radicalization cases.

A 2009 report found that in the United States, roughly 240,000 inmates have converted to the faith since the 9/11 attacks.

See also, exclusive video at the Shark Tank: Pamela Geller Jumps in the Tank, Warns of Islamic Jihad

***

Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin on another unsympathetic face of the Democrat party: Robert Gibbs to Deliver Team Obama Response to Tonight’s GOP Debate:

By all means, Dems, DO put this incompetent lout’s face out there to dog  Republicans at every turn. I’m sure they’re all shaking in their boots.

Your Sunday Hymn: Lord Send Out Your Spirit

I have a special treat you you this Pentecost Sunday: An original arrangement of the psalm, “Lord Send Out Your Spirit” by  Glen Shulfer (of Union Man! fame).

Text from Psalm 104. Featuring Mary Lee McNally, Alto.

A hymn I especially love to sing once a year is the Sequence of Pentecost; Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit), a medieval sequence usually attributed to either the thirteenth-century Pope Innocent III or to the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton:

Veni Sancte Spiritus is one of only four medieval Sequences which were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545-63). Before Trent many feasts had their own sequences.^[2] It is still sung today.

Here’s another one with alternating male and female voices:

Lyrics:

Saturday Movie Matinee

Ann Coulter appeared on Hannity to promote her new book, Demonic, (which I fully intend to read in one sitting as soon as I get my hands on it.)

David Limbaugh calls Chilling ‘Demonic’ Is Ann Coulter’s Best Book.

Ann Coulter’s chilling two-chapter recapitulation of the French Revolution is worth well more than the price of her new book, “Demonic,” but that’s just a bonus.

Also priceless are Coulter’s plethora of one-liner skewerings of the liberal mob, but I digress. What make this her best book are her incisive demonstration that the revolution was the mother of the many totalitarian “revolutions” it spawned in the name of the people, her dissection of the mob mentality that drove it, and her case against today’s American liberals as exemplars of this mob mentality.

She first establishes her base line, defining the mob as “an irrational, childlike, often violent organism that derives its energy from the group. Intoxicated by messianic goals, the promise of instant gratification, and adrenaline-pumping exhortations, mobs create mayhem, chaos, and destruction, leaving a smoldering heap of wreckage for their leaders to climb to power.”

Sound familiar? It should, because “the Democratic Party is the party of the mob . . . Indeed, the very idea of a ‘community organizer’ is to stir up a mob for some political purpose.” No truer words.

You can sample chapter 1 at The Daily Caller: Exclusive Chapter 1 excerpt from Ann Coulter’s new book ‘Demonic’.

***

The Orange County Register: Korean orphan Sung-Bong Choi: Is he the new Susan Boyle?

Move over Susan Boyle, a 22-year-old Korean laborer is taking aim at your title as the Internet’s next unlikely viral singing star. Sung-Bong Choi appeared on “Korea’s Got Talent” on Monday, June 6, a shy young guy in a flannel shirt and a bowl haircut, apologizing for not being a very good singer even before he sang his first notes.

But of course he had the requisite tear-jerker story that signaled to the audience that he probably was going to sing just fine: Dumped at an orphanage at 3, he ran away at 5 because they beat him and ended up selling gum on the streets and sleeping in public toilets for the next decade. (Maybe Sung-Bong is Korean for Oliver Twist? Anyone know?) He lived like a “day fly,” Choi told the judges on the Korean spinoff of the talent hunt TV show.

Then he sang — “Nella Fantasia,” the pop opera tune first done by Sarah Brightman – and everyone in the audience went from laughing at the day laborer to weeping. Including the judges who offered hugs and vocal lessons and a ticket to the next round when he finished.

***

In case you thought that seemed a bit contrived -  tugging at your heartstrings as it did, they did leave out one important part of his biography:

While he did spend his childhood on the streets, he also somehow managed to attended a high school for the performing arts and studied voice, a bit that was edited out of the show to “make the story flow better,” according to the network.

***

In case you haven’t seen it yet, the endless shampoo prank:

***

Via AFP’s Running On Empty:

Empty Tank Policies:

• Illegal Moratoriums: After the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf, President Obama issued a moratorium on all new offshore drilling. The courts twice overturned his ban, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was even held in contempt of court for refusing to allow energy producers to get back to work. Since then, oil companies have complained of a virtual “permitorium” as the Obama administration has blocked them at every turn from getting permits. The message is clear: Obama is against domestic energy production.

• Canceling existing oil and gas leases: Amazingly, not only has Obama blocked any new permits but he’s also reaching back and canceling drilling leases that were already in place when he took office. More than 75 parcels in Utah were yanked back after leases were issued. In addition, they’ve ended 61 leases in Montana. They’ve also rescinded leases in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. How can American energy companies get production flowing and put this country back to work if every time they get a lease they have to worry about it being canceled?

• Locking up lands in the West: The Department of the Interior has continued to block more and more access to federal lands in the American West. From unilateral secretarial orders to create “wild lands” on a whim, to using the 1906 Antiquities Act to create massive “national monuments” that span millions of acres, to using the Endangered Species Act to block Texas and Alaska resources, the federal government is working overtime to make sure Americans cannot access their own domestic resources.

• EPA’s job-crushing regulations: The EPA is advancing numerous regulations that will have a disas- trous impact on our economy. They are trying to regulate greenhouse gases to combat climate channge.

***

A blast from the past. Here’s Dennis Miller’s stand-up routine circa 1988.

***

Via Moonbattery: Whitewashing the Pedophile Priest Problem:

A recent study about the priest sex abuse crisis has raised many more questions than it has answered. It may be a report that many leaders in the Church wish had never been conducted in the first place.

***

See PJ TV for the latest installment of Instavision, where Glenn Reynolds interviews Dan Mitchell of the CATO Institute about the failures of Obamanomics and the Keynesianism.

Obama is not worried about a double-dip recession. Should he be? Find out as Dan Mitchell looks at the economic policies of Obama, Bush and Clinton.

Double Dip Recession: Will Obama’s Policies Doom Our Economy and His Chances in 2012?

***

Watch clips from Sarah Palin’s movie, The Undefeated at Breitbart TV: Film Director Steven Bannon Talks Palin Movie with Hannity

Breakng: 17 Year Old Weiner Twitter Correspondent Gets A Visit From The Police (Updated with Video)

Patterico has been doing the hard, and frankly uncomfortable work of sifting through Anthony Weiner’s Teenybopper Twitter followers tweets, and offered his findings in a 3 part series of posts:

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 1

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 2

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 3

Now the police in New Castle, Delaware looking into the case:

Police on Friday afternoon came to the home of a 17-year-old high school junior to ask her about direct online communications she has had with Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Two officers from the New Castle County Police Department arrived at the girl’s home around 4:30 p.m. and asked to speak with the girl’s mother about the daughter’s contact with Weiner. Another officer appeared at the home a short time later. A FoxNews.com reporter was at the home when the police arrived.

The girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, told FoxNews.com, “I’m doing OK.”

The police left the home after about 30 minutes, followed by the daughter and mother, who left in a separate car. It was not clear if the mother and daughter were going to continue the conversation with police at another location.

Lee Stranahan asks where is the media on the underage girls aspect of the Weinergate scandal?:

Now we know the Rep. Weiner (D – NY) is a liar. We know that he won’t admit things until he literally has no other option. And we know that he had a habit of talking to a number of women who admired him politically and then using that admiration to his own sexual advantage.

So why is the press now ignoring the ‘underage girl’ angle of the #Weinergate story that has had MORE proof behind it then the Tweet Seen ‘Round The World that went to Seattle co-ed Gennete Cordova?

This bears repeating, so I’ll repeat it.

There has been more clear, explicit, inexplicable and publicly available information about an inappropriate online relationship between Rep. Anthony Weiner and the girl Patterico calls “Ethel” then there has been about ANY other person – yet the press hasn’t even asked pertinent questions about. Most of this info was available during the ENTIRE story. Reporters like Tommy Christopher certainly know all about it, but failed to even mention it once in his reporting.

The dinosaur media are bound and determined to be 3 steps behind the new media in every developing story that doesn’t fit their liberal narrative. They are forever playing catchup when a story they hope goes away, doesn’t go away. Sometimes the strategy works for him (see their election coverage for the entire year of 2008 ). But now with the loud and brash Andrew Breitbart  leading the charge, it’s harder and harder for these damaging stories to be buried.

Even with his high poll numbers, this aspect of the scandal would have to be the coup de grace to Weiner’s political career. Will the NYTs and WaPo pick up on it any time soon, or will it be relegated to Fox News and the RW blogosphere?

The age of consent in DE:

The age of consent in Delaware is 18, but it is legal for teenagers aged 16 and 17 to engage in sexual intercourse as long as the older partner is younger than 30.

Title 11 § 761. Definitions generally applicable to sexual offences. (j) A child who has not yet reached his or her sixteenth birthday is deemed unable to consent to a sexual act with a person more than 4 years older than said child. Children who have not yet reached their twelfth birthday are deemed unable to consent to a sexual act under any circumstances. Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Delaware Criminal Code

§ 770. Rape in the fourth degree; class C felony. (a) A person is guilty of rape in the fourth degree when the person:…2) Intentionally engages in sexual intercourse with another person, and the victim has not yet reached that victim’s eighteenth birthday, and the person is 30 years of age or older, except that such intercourse shall not be unlawful if the victim and person are married at the time of such intercourse.

Breitbart TV: Weinergate: Police Investigate Congressman’s On-line Relationship with Underage Girl

UPDATE:

Patterico: More on the Police Investigation in Delaware (Update: Johnson Beclowns Himself Further; NYT Reports, Cape and Tights Confirmed!)

 

 

Hat tip: Drew at AoSHQ

Pic of the Day: Paul Ryan 2012

 

Via Weekly Standard: where a reader helpfully adds:

“Here is where you can buy them…. Spread the word!” The Paul Ryan 2012 movement is sweeping across the nation!

ND approves. In fact I’ve been approving of the idea since March of 2010. That’s right: Paul Ryan For President, March 21, 2010.

Michael Barone caught up with Ryan last week, after he spoke at the Washington chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society:

Interestingly, Ryan spoke largely about foreign affairs. He began by noting our “unsustainable trajectory of government spending” and segued to foreign policy, citing Charles Krauthammer’s 2009 warning that “decline is a choice” and a choice we don’t have to and should not make. He embraced American exceptionalism and argued that our values are universally applicable. “We have to be consistent and clear in the promotion of our principles,” he said, “while recognizing that different situations will require different tools for achieving that end.” It’s a thoughtful and intelligent speech. You can find a  good summary and a full transcript in Michael Warren’s Weekly Standard blogpost.

***

Before the speech I asked Ryan if he was aware of Rahe’s piece. He said someone on his staff had mentioned it. I asked whether he was going to run for president. He said (this is not quite an exact quote, I’m going to stay where I am. It’s easier. He added that he really thought Mitch Daniels was going to run and had gained that impression when talking to him three or four times before he made his decision not to. I asked him, What is the filing deadline for running for reelection in Wisconsin? He said it was in July. Which means, of course, that he could run for president and if not successful in the Republican nomination process could still run for reelection to the House.

After the speech and colloquy I handed Ryan a paper copy of Rahe’s post and urged him to read it. He said he would. My guess is that Paul Ryan is giving serious consideration to running for president, and that something like Paul Rahe’s call to duty rather than any crass political calculation is likely to persuade him to do so. I note that over at the Huffington Post Jon Ward seems to be drawing a similar conclusion, citing Ryan’s statement to Fox Business News’s Neil Cavuto that “I want to see how the field develops.”

By the way, how often do House Budget Committee chairmen give speeches about foreign policy?

Here’s Ryan’s speech before the Alexander Hamilton Society, June 2, 2011.

Hat tip: BethC on Facebook.

Friday Free-For-All

Mike Lester cartoon via Townhall.

Patterico posts part 3 of his damning indictment of Weiner’s online antics: Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 3:

Early this morning I posted Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 2. In that post, I provided evidence that Weiner had discussions with an underage girl (“Ethel”) regarding fighting for his country in a cape and tights. I also noted that he had also discussed fighting for his country in a cape and tights with a grown woman, with whom he had discussions of a explicit nature that read like something out of a Penthouse Forum letter (“needless to say, I was at the ready in my cape and tights!”).

This is the followup to that post. I will now explore further the question of whether Weiner might have talked dirty to young Ethel as well.

Ethel (who rendered her Twitter account private after I published part 2) has been on Twitter since 2009. She looks like a high school girl, and her profile says she loves LeBron James, marching band, and sleeping. She frequently talks about her high school on her feed.

Keep reading. There is no doubt in my mind that Weiner was  sexting with this girl.

Meanwhile, The New York Post has: Fifth woman and Weiner exchanged messages like ‘sexy’ and ‘sugar’ in Facebook chat

In another Facebook posting dated Dec. 15, 2010, this one public, Nobles wrote that she had just donated money to a Democratic Party fundraising committee.

“Just contributed to ActBlue, Weiner. You and your balls use it wisely,” she wrote.

The following day, Nobles posted for everyone to see: “Weiner! Way to stand your ground sexy! Keep it up like I know you can! Heart you, heart your passion, and as always, heart your balls!

Weiner and the woman also appeared to be arranging a meeting — although it remains unclear from the postings if that meant over the computer or in person.

Interesting double entendre there, given that Weiner was recently married to the beautiful and dignified Huma Abedin. Very, very strange behavior for a newlywed to say the least.

Through all this, sophisticated New Yorkers refuse to be scandalized by their horndog congressman’s behavior. A Marist Poll shows that 56% of voters surveyed in Weiner’s district didn’t think he should resign.  Is it really just us “rural, conservative Christians who are culturally backwards who don’t like this stuff?…

Breitbart TV: New Anti-Weiner Ad: Stop Sexting and Spending

Michelle Malkin: Feckless feminists wimp out on Weinergate; Plus: Weiner’s lingering underage girl problem; Updated: MORE

Drain the swamp! Clean house! It takes a woman to do a man’s job!

Remember all that Year of the Woman rhetoric when liberal feminists were riding high?

Top Democrat women loudmouths in Washington would rather you forgot all of it now. If you ever wondered how to get one of them to clam up about gender and politics, now you know.

Zombie thinks it’s time to MoveOn from the Weinergate scandal, and has started a new organization to help us down that road: SitOn.org.

Why SitOn? Well, you’ll just have to read all about it at PJ Tatler. Content Warning: {{{It involves Weiner’s lewd and lascivious sexting messages}}}.

***

Gateway Pundit: Unbelievable… Napolitano: Concentrating Terrorist Screening Efforts on Muslim Men Under 35 is Not Good Logic (Video)

Noooo. Good logic is concentrating on nuns, beauty queens, babies, etc. Makes perfect sense. We’re in great…er…hands.

***

AWR Hawkins, Big Government:Palin So “Irrelevant,” Media Begs For Help In Sifting Through Her Emails:

In making this request, both the Washington Post and the New York Times prove they’ve yet to learn how much the people love Palin. But we can help them learn this lesson after 1 pm by sending a ton of emails that have absolutely nothing to with Palin’s correspondence cache.

In other words, the Washington Post reports they’ll be posting Palin’s emails here, and they’ll include a link whereby readers can respond when they find that “most noteworthy” information. The New York Times has been kind enough to say they’ll post Palin’s emails here, and they will likewise include a link whereby readers can respond when they find that juicy nugget that’s going to prove Palin doesn’t love America after all (or that she really shot her Caribou from a distance of 120 yards instead of 123).

Our job is simple: once the emails post, we need to click the links for each paper (cited in previous paragraph) and send both of them an email (or emails) about the noteworthy information we found. But instead of sending something from Palin’s emails, send them your favorite line from a Charlton Heston speech or movie. Or send them your favorite line from your favorite song or from a piece of classic literature.

Even if both papers figure out what’s happening rather quickly, the knowledge that we’ve sent random information will them force to research and verify every email (and re-open and re-research those which they took for granted upon receiving them). In turn, this will ruin all their fun and shut this little experiment down before it even gets rolling.

***

Big Government: Obama’s NLRB Silences SC Boeing Employees’ Voices:

The National Labor Relations Board continues to prove that the NLRB was established for Big Labor and Big Business while leaving employees out of the process. In complete arrogance, the NLRB has told South Carolina employees and their families that NLRB’s General Counsel Lafe Solomon’s plan to shut down Boeing’s South Carolina factory and eliminate jobs is none of their business.

As the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation press release put it: “Obama NLRB to South Carolina Boeing Employees: ‘You Have No Stake in Your Jobs’”

Furthermore, the NLRB ruled that it was no one else’s business because it has chosen not to allow any amicus curiae briefs to be filed.

***

White House Dossier: Koffler and Carney: Why Not Demand Assad Step Down?

Yesterday I asked Jay if he could be specific about why we are not insisting that the bloodthirsty Syrian tyrant Bashir Assad step down, as we did Hosni Mubarak and are now demanding of Muammar Qaddafi.

His answer to other reporters on this has been, essentially, “every country is different,” which seems to have been generally accepted in the briefing room as a response that sheds some light on the subject.

Of course, this is approximately like asking someone “Why did you marry your wife?” and having them answer, “Because I really like women.”

So I asked him what specifically there is about Syria – and not Egypt or Libya – that leads us to stop short of pointing Assad toward the door.

The answer to my questions? “Every country is different.”

Watch video at link. Does it l.ook to you like Tapper in the front row is getting annoyed at the line of questioning? What’s that all about?

***

Doug Ross: Good Luck Charging Your Chevy Volts, Losers:EPA Shutting Down 5 Coal Plants For Reasons That Are Best Described As….Bull****

Consider this reason #3,405 to completely de-fund the EPA, which is nothing less than a Marxist front group.

The costs of complying with these specious EPA regulations will spike electricity prices by between 10 to 35 percent and cost 600 jobs. Well done, EPA.

Doug Ross: The Department of Education Has A Swat Team, Who Knew?

Using deadly force for collections?

Consider this reason #4,305 to completely de-fund the utterly useless Department of Education, which has yet to educate a single student.

Oh — and I’ve been out of town for a while. How’s that unlawful federal takeover of the student loan business working out?

***

Peter Ferarra, The American Spectator: The Coming Crash of 2013:

While the Reagan recovery, a real recovery from a similarly deep recession, averaged 7.1% real economic growth over the first 7 quarters, the Obama recovery has produced less than half that at 2.8%, with the last quarter at a dismal 1.8%. While the Reagan recovery produced nearly 20 million new jobs, and civilian employment rose by almost 20%, today America still suffers 6.8 million fewer jobs than when the recession started over 3 years ago. The labor force participation rate has fallen to its lowest level almost since the Reagan recovery started over 25 years ago. As the Wall Street Journal explained on Monday:

This is an important economic measure because it reflects the opportunities that Americans perceive in the marketplace. In the long boom from the Reagan years through 2000 or so, the labor force participation rate took a historic leap upward as women, immigrants and others entered the job market…. It has now fallen off a cliff, and we doubt that is what Mr. Goolsbee means when he hails the “trajectory of the economy.”

I have previously discussed why this happened. Obamanomics doggedly followed the opposite of Reaganomics in every detail. The centerpiece of Obamanomics was the old-fashioned Keynesianism that was a proven failure and left for dead 30 years ago. That was reflected most of all in Obama’s February 2009 trillion dollar stimulus package. That didn’t work because borrowing a trillion dollars out of the economy to spend a trillion dollars back into the economy does not add anything to the economy on net.

And borrowing two trillion for the stimulus instead still wouldn’t have done it, for the same reason. Those calling for still more of the same Keynesian snake oil are just self-identifying themselves as hopelessly deluded fools who must not be taken seriously ever again. Worse than not working, Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus already drove us to the brink of bankruptcy. Going for still more now as advocated by the mentally blinded would be walking off the cliff with our eyes closed.

Michael Walsh at The NY Post: Professor disaster: Bam’s theories killing economy:

The growth in GDP declined to a measly 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011 as consumers hung desperately onto their wallets. Job growth has completely collapsed. Fully 60 percent of the electorate thinks the country is on the wrong track. No wonder the daily economic briefing, once on a par with the intelligence briefing, has vanished from President Obama’s schedule.

Heckuva job, guys.

And now Obama says he’s not worried about a double-dip recession. Easy for him to say: For Americans not feeding at the government trough, the first recession never ended.

We are witnessing the total failure of academic Keynesian economics, with its heavy emphasis on high taxes and exorbitant government spending. Yet Obama sails blithely on, already in full campaign mode and still blaming George W. Bush and the Republicans (admittedly no models of fiscal restraint or responsibility) for everything.

Worse, the what-me-worry president continues to insist that the ongoing hard times are just a “bump in the road” — that if we can just get the “fortunate” rich to “pay a little more” everything will be just fine.

Never mind that most of the “rich” got their own money by inventing a product or providing a service in the private sector. That they invested an enormous amount of their own capital and sweat equity before it paid off. That they did it for the most part without any help from Obama or his friends in academe.

And never mind that if you tax the rich at 100 percent of their wealth, the country will still go bankrupt.

Bump in the road to what, Mr. President? The road to perdition?

***

Pirate’s Cove:Democrats Fall Back To Their Default Position During Debt Fight:

Did you know that Sheriff Joe met with Republican negotiators on Thursday in another closed-door meeting that produced 0 agreement? Biden told reporters: “I’ve made it clear … revenues have to be in the deal.”

So, raising revenues, er, expenditures in the tax code, sorry, increased taxation is the only thing on Democrats’ tiny minds. They just can’t envision reducing the federal government’s spending. And, of course, they want to go after the tax breaks that oil companies receive, which would simply be passed on to consumers, who Dems can then demonize, and call for more “green” energy subsidies. No matter that increasing gas prices would destroy the fragile economy, which Democrats own. That’s not their concern.

The Minority Report: New Video: Democrats Nonexistent Budget Plan

***

I detect a pattern, here…Obama regime sides with our enemies once again, in Falkland Islands dispute.

Heritage Foundation:President Obama Should Side with Britain over the Falkland Islands:

President Obama was effusive in his praise for the Special Relationship when he visited London in May, but his Administration continues to slap Britain in the face over the highly sensitive Falkland Islands sovereignty issue by aligning itself with Argentina’s call for U.N.-brokered talks on the future of the islands.

This reckless approach toward the U.S.–U.K. alliance threatens to upset relations between Washington and London at a time when both countries are actively engaged in a major war in Afghanistan and American and British aircraft are enforcing the NATO no-fly zone over Libya.

***

 New Zeal: Allen West – “Im the Liberals Worst Nightmare”:

Watch the video…

***

John from Verum Serum: Super Short Super 8 Review

Short version – He likes it. I’m going to take my older kids to it some time this weekend.

***

Trending on Twitter: #PalinEmails:

My submissions thus far:

Sarah Palin was on Victoria Secret’s email list – received regular updates on lingerie sales! #VictoriaSecretGate #palinemails

Unpatriotic Palin was on racist Oriental Trading Co mailing list -received regular updates on (made in China) party good sales. #PalinEmails

Palin violates separation of church and state in #PalinEmails – prays, invokes God, mentions the BIBLE!

(I should have added #PracticingChristianGate)

When MSM is done sniffing through #PalinEmails, maybe they could pressure @LATimes to release Obama’s Khalidi Bash Tape.

Legal Insurrection: Behold The Mainstream Media Eating Its Own Anti-Palin Bile – A Running List of Headlines

A collection of headlines from the mainstream media after a feeding frenzy to break stories regarding the 24,000+ e-mails released by the State of Alaska from Sarah Palin’s time as Governor.

The rushed headlines and analysis reveal the mainstream media desperately seeking ways to confirm its long-standing anti-Palin bile, without any time to consume the meaning or (lack of) importance of the e-mails.

Today shows the mainstream media at its worst, featuring insatiable publicity hounds seeking to confirm their preconceived narratives regarding a leading conservative political figure.

Am I the Only One…

…who wants to choke the s*** of the people on “our side” of the political spectrum when they keep attacking the non-expert/experienced politicians who have decided to endure hostile, partisan reporters spelunking in their sphincters and uteruses, and the scorn and derision of pundits, who often have done nothing remotely risky in their lives other than ordering iffy fish at swanky restaurants or daring to buy a suit off the rack, rather than visiting their tailor for their latest Armani.

I’d like to know when so many conservatives bought into the idea that our leaders must be drawn from the pool of experts and experienced politicians.  A careful reading of the Federalist Papers and other assorted writings make it clear that the Framers certainly never envisioned a government consisting of career politicians and professional experts rich in “knowledge” largely or completely unsupported by real world experience.  But honestly, as far afield as we have strayed from so many other things that they intended, I find this gradual acquiescence less frustrating than the unrestrained contempt that so many of these so-called conservative ”journalists”, talking heads, and their devoted followers have for people like Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, or even Michelle Bachmann.

Whether it’s the vacuous and groundless criticisms leveled at Sarah Palin, (She’s dumb, she’s a hillbilly, Trig isn’t hers, OMG, she didn’t give a polished and pat answer to the hostile reporter’s query, its her fault the nutbar shot Gabby Giffords, or that she’s a quitter because she decided to stop costing the taxpayers of Alaska money fighting boundless and, ultimately frivolous ethics complaints and resigned the governorship), the “he doesn’t have a policy plan for every single contingency” leveled at Herman Cain, someone who I would wager has more ideas that would actually grow the economy and jobs in his little finger than The President and all of Congress have between themselves and their legions of advisors and staff.  Besides, I’m quite sure that the only reason an “electable candidate” like Mitt Romney can cogently answer a specific foreign policy question because at least one or more paid advisor has advised him on a safe, or expected answer to such question.  Be honest, do you think at his first inauguration, George W. Bush was planning to spend the majority of time in office in charge of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, or that he thought that we would suffer a devastating terrorist attack on our soil that would kill thousands of American civilians, or that a cadre of career Democratic appointees going through a revolving door at Freddie and Fannie would feed an unsustainable bubble by guaranteeing bad loans and personally enriching themselves in the process, despite it being brought to his attention once in office, and his numerous warnings to Congress about their dreadful oversight after it was brought to his attention.

The fact that these criticisms come from people who haven’t decided to subject themselves to the inevitable criticism and scrutiny directed at these candidates is irritating.  These people aren’t making the decision to run because they want power.  Despite the claims to the contrary, they don’t do it for “the fame”.  I’m quite certain that Governor Palin hasn’t appreciated “the fame” that has made her daughters the focus of David Letterman’s creepy sexual innuendos, or Andy Sullivan all but petition the courts to make his own gynecological examination of her nethers.  I’m equally certain that Herman Cain didn’t decide to move into the public eye and run for office because he’d like to be President.  Representative Bachmann on the other hand, clearly enjoys driving partisan hacks like Chrissy “Tingles” Matthews insane when she purposely doesn’t play the role that he hamfistedly tries to maneuver her into.  But then, to hear some talking head with a complete lack of understanding of the tax code prattling on and pretending to know more than her would lead me to frustrate the sputtering simpleton at every opportunity as well.  No, these people made the decision to step away from their lives because they could no longer ignore the fact that decades of leadership by the experienced and the experts isn’t working.  And what thanks do they get?  A complete eclipse of consideration by self-appointed deciders obsessed with talking points, elaborate plans which may or may not survive the events of the potential candidate’s administration, ‘electablity’-otherwise known as the careful positioning that ensures that the candidate doesn’t really have a position that would evoke a strong feeling by any potential voter, and policy expertise informed by, well, more experts.  And then they lament months later the fact that the new boss is largely undistinguishable from the old boss.

I have an idea.

How about you journalists, pundits, loyal followers and other deciders who purport to be on our side try a novel strategy this time?

Shut the hell up and let us decide, m’kay?

Charles Johnson Intentionally Leads People Astray With His Bogus Weinergate Coverage

Bloggers make mistakes. We all occasionally do. We’re human, and sometimes we  just get things wrong. When that happens, the responsible thing to do is post a correction.

Some bloggers on the left, however, get things wrong on purpose out of spite for the right, and to promote a left-wing narrative. They know that their left-wing readers will unquestionably accept their bogus story because it agrees with their worldview.

Charles Johnson is one such blogger.

Earlier today, Lee Stranahan exposed the latest LGF whopper: LGF Is Actually Hallucinating On #Weinergate

Here’s what Charles Johnson accused Breitbart of …

In fact, two nights ago, Andrew Breitbart went out drinking with Anthony and several others — and according to Anthony, showed the picture to numerous people, even leaving his laptop computer unattended with the picture on the screen for long periods of time.

One of those people was right wing flamethrower Ann Coulter. Here’s Anthony’s photo of Coulter reacting to the picture; notice that his computer is apparently there, but Breitbart is nowhere to be seen.

Breitbart owns a Mac Air, an iPad and an iPhone Blackberry. Look at the picture – that’s no Apple product.

And it seems Coulter is laughing at something she’s been told. Right? Not a picture on the imaginary Breitbart computer.

Chuck sees what he wants to see – maybe that’s where the little green footballs name comes from.

Johnson wants his readers to believe that Breitbart was callously displaying Weiner’s weiner pic to hundreds of New Yorkers after making it clear that he had no intention of releasing it. In other words, he was telling his readers that  Andrew Breitbart is a liar. But it’s Charles Johnson who is knowingly lying.

Why would  Breitbart’s computer even be set up on the street outside of a restaurant?

It turned out to be a sign – here’s Google Street View. And I think Charles Johnson, who knows his way around computers, knew better. Even after being contacted by Stranahan, he refused to issue a correction.

Stranahan updated with another post which details the sickening influence Johnson’s bogus post had in the left-wing fever swamps: The Breitbart Laptop Lie; How Liberals Spread It

This lie is part of a story that liberals are trying to spin, desperate to find SOME way to prove Andrew Breitbart is wrong on the #Weinergate story. The idea is to prove that Breitbart was totally careless with the Weiner XXX picture – so lax that he left it out on a laptop screen in public!

Johnson drives this point home with TWO mentions in his short, embarrassingly wrong article. And with over 2,000 retweets and 400+ comments, not one liberal reader of Little Green Footballseven NOTICED that the ‘laptop’ is a frickin’ MENU BOARD. Not one.They can’t all be stupid – but they are all that biased.

So full of hate for Breitbart that their eyes don’t work. So misguided by someone like Charles Johnson pandering to their worst instincts that they don’t even question someone leaving an open laptop out on the streets of New York City with a photo of the Most Famous Woody in America sitting on the screen.

Nobody grabbed a photo of that? No New Yorkers stopped and grab a snapshot? The story doesn’t even make sense, even if you missed the laptop / menu board thing.

Why no correction or retraction? Charles Johnson WANTS the lie to spread. That’s clear. He knows it isn’t try and goes with it not in spite of the fact it’s a wrong. He spreads it BECAUSE it’s wrong.

Left-wing blogs who linked to the story:

Balloon Juice

Taylor Marsh

Hinterland Gazette

Like me, Stranahan has 0 sympathy for Weiner, a guy who sat back and allowed supporters to embarrass themselves defending him, while smearing Breitbart.

His exit question:

What do you think Charles Johnson or Gawker would do if they had a nude photo of Andrew Breitbart or Ann Coulter? It wouldn’t just be on a cell phone, that’s for damn sure.

MORE:

You know what this reminds me of?

The time Eric Boehlert posted this bogus picture at Media Matters in his zeal to zing Michelle Malkin, and convince his brain dead readers that the historic 2009 9/12 tea party in DC (which reportedly attracted a million+ patriots) was a sparsely attended failure compared to Obama’s inauguration.

He took the picture down after I blogged about it…(without a correction or explanation.) But continued zinging conservatives who were reporting estimates of the impressive attendance numbers.

Here is a panoramic view of the crowd, taken from another angle, by Freedomworks photographer, Michael A. Beck.

Now, we all know that Media Matters’ entire raison d’etre is to provide cover for the left by spreading lies and misinformation about the right. But never had I seen anything so blatantly, and obviously dishonest.

How rattled by the  9/12 tea party’s extraordinary showing was the Senior Fellow at Media Matters, to have posted, even temporarily, such a blatant, and obviously bogus comparison pic?

How rattled must Charles Johnson be to see a liberal hero going down in flames after he, and other netroot gunslingers made such utter fools of themselves, defending his guilty-as-sin ass while smearing various players on the right for exposing it?

How does that egg feel, Charles? How does that crow taste?

Linked by Doug Ross in Larwyn’s Links, and American Power, and Melissa Clouthier, thanks!

Video: In Sidewalk Interview “Defiant” Weiner Again Says He’s Not Resigning, Declines To Comment On Wife’s Pregnancy

A reporter from The New York Post caught up with Weiner, today and asked two questions on everyone’s minds:

A defiant Rep. Anthony Weiner said today that he’s not resigning.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, Weiner, 46, said the sexting scandal that has plagued him for the past week is not reason enough to give up his House seat.

“I’m not,” Weiner said when asked by a Post reporter whether he planned to resign.

Asked if his wife was having a boy or girl, Weiner said, “I have no comment on that. See you soon.”

Often, couples don’t want to comment on a pregnancy when it’s still in the early weeks because the risk of miscarriage is higher. But now that the cat is essentially out of the bag, why the continued reticence?

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, today wondered how long Weiner can stay “dug in” with so many top Democrats pressuring him to step down.

How do we know that the heat is rising on Anthony Weiner?  The New York Times reports that Democrats are not going to take no for an answer to their demands for Weiner’s resignation.  Weiner’s hometown paper notes that the demands for an end to Weiner’s presence in Congress began yesterday with a key ally of Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, and that sent a signal to the rank and file to follow suit.

Patterico has been investigating  an aspect of Weinergate the MSM has stayed clear of – Weiner’s underage Twitter fans who went silent shortly after the scandal broke, and is reportng his findings in a series of posts:

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 1

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 2

In a clue that the coup de grace is imminent, he quips: “In an ideal world, I would prefer not to publish Part 3 of this series.”

In the face of all this, Huma is standing by her man:

Out of all the critics and supporters, one may be more influential. According to ABC’s Democratic source, Weiner is telling colleagues that his pregnant wife Huma Abedin “wants him to stay and fight.”

But then again, so are most New York voters:

One survey from Tuesday showed 46 percent of of the city’s residents want the congressman to step down. These numbers differ from those that Weiner cites as justification for him to stay in office. A New York 1 survey of 500 New Yorkers, also out Tuesday, found that 51 percent of New Yorkers want Weiner to stay. “It’s worth keeping in mind that New York is overwhelmingly Democratic. Partisanship can run high in this town. Moral outrage, maybe less so,” said ABC New pollster Gary Langer.

Video: Breitbart Goes There – Calls Huma’s Pregnancy Announcement a “Ploy”

Whoa, Andrew!

Nice Deb is sometimes too timid to say what she really thinks. Especially in a situation as delicate as this one.

But Andrew Breitbart has paved the way for other doubting Thomases by saying (in his opinion), the news of Huma’s pregnancy is *probably* a PR attempt and a ploy to make people not want to report on the Weinergate scandal.

Danged if I wasn’t thinking the same thing:

video via Gateway Pundit

Andrew doesn’t come right out and say that he doubts that she’s even pregnant, but I have to admit that I’m suspicious.

And I will also say this about the Weiner marriage, and then I won’t say anything more about it, again. There is something about the beautiful and dignified Huma Abedin I don’t quite get.

Reported by The Nation on June 4:

Amid building scandal, Weiner, who is Jewish, said Thursday his beautiful wife doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. “She’s seen an awful lot,” Weiner said in a television interview. “But I won’t mind telling you that even for someone that went through the Clinton years, this has been a befuddling experience.”

***

Abedin, known as ‘body woman’ for Mrs Clinton, returned to work Thursday as usual.
The New York Post reported Friday that Mrs Abedin has shown incredible grace under fire, and not displayed any signs of embarrassment or anger over her husband’s public roasting. “She has been doing her job like nothing has happened. It has nothing to do with her job. This is her personal life,” a source told the Post.

And today at the NY Post:

She’s adamant that her husband does not resign, and is optimistic that he can continue his career as an elected official.

“I think people have weathered worse,” said the source.

“They are still talking all the time about what to do [to survive the scandal],” the source said, adding that they plotted his political comeback while at the hotel.

“Adamant that her husband not resign”?, “Doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about?” Does she understand English? Has she  not seen  the sexting FB messages, (that took place right after they were married.) Has she seen the pictures he sent to numerous young women on Twitter? The XXX one that was leaked, today????? The whole damn country is mortified for her….

“Doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about?”

Hasn’t “displayed any signs of embarrassment or anger”?

Something doesn’t add up, here.

…I’m just going to leave it at that.

Meanwhile,over at AoSHQ, Ace is agonizing about the human toll this is taking on all the players involved in this scandal – Is it about sex, is it about lies, is it both, why do I care?:

I don’t know. I don’t know.

I know that when the pictures were actually released Monday, I had a queasy feeling. And while I had previously been keenly interested in vindication, motivated by intellectual vanity, now I sort of began to have empathy and kept thinking, and writing, “Call the fight. Make it stop.”

I wanted him to resign less to have a scalp than to just get it all behind us.

I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell happened here, really, now, looking back.

Great to “win” and be “right” and all that but today’s revelation of a pregnancy really just makes this all seem less like partisan sport and more like simple cruelty.

I don’t know. I’m just thinking. Or my gut is thinking, and I’m typing out the words my brain is giving me in translation.

Ace, damnit. Ya done nothin’ wrong. Your blogging on Weinergate was stellar, and you have nothing to feel guilty about. Period.

Ace’s reaction to Huma’s pregnancy sort of makes Breitbart’s point, doesn’t it?

Linked by AoSHQ in the Headlines, and POWIP, thanks!

Rest In Peace, Patty Ann

On a somber note, a much loved member of the right-wing blogosphere passed away on Monday Tuesday Morning [BiW]. Patty-Ann was a well known commenter at many sites, including AoSHQ, Innocent Bystanders, H2,  Uncivil Peasants and in the early days here at Nice Deb. She was known for her big heart and great sense of humor. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the Oklahoma State Fair in 2007, when on a weekend trip with my girls, and youngest son, who had the stomach flu at the time. It was a particularly hot day, and  she couldn’t have been kinder to us all, offering us much appreciated water from her air-conditioned trailer, while her hubby took pictures of the horses.

Wiserbud, at H2o has taken up a collection for Flowers for Patty Ann.

Yesterday, there were so many people who came to our stupid little corner of the internet just to say goodbye to an incredible lady that it occurred to me, we need to let her family know that we are with them in feeling their loss.  We may not be physically by their side, but we truly share their loss.  Our friends Cathy and Dick have done a wonderful job of being there as surrogates for us all, but I think we now need to give them a break and show ourselves.  And our power.

To that end, I have ordered a flower arrangement for Patty Ann’s services, in the name of all of her “fake internet friends.”

It’s not enough, but then again, it never is.

I have also set up a Paypal account for donations to a charity to be named later. You can make donations at intruder601 at cox  dot net.   (I promise you, knowing PA, her family will choose an appropriate charity.  She was …. good…. like that.)  Be sure to select “Personal,” the “Gift” if you decide to donate.

Rest in Peace, Patty Ann.

I will miss you more than I can ever say.  As will, obviously, so many more people that you touched than you could ever know.

She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

Hump-Day Link-Around (Drooping Economy and Weiner Edition)

Chip Bok cartoon via TownHall.

Michelle Malkin’s lead story, today is on the abysmal failures of the White House economic team: Obama’s egghead economic saboteurs

Official motto of the White House economic team: Those who can, do. Those who can’t, fantasize in the classroom, fail in Washington and then return to the Ivy Tower to train the next generation of egghead economic saboteurs. Life is good for left-wing academics. Everyone else pays dearly.

Rush used to always joke that the only place where  Marxist theory had a home was in left-wing academia, (he’d mention the University of WI at Madison specifically), but I never thought it was a joking matter because so many young skulls full of mush were being influenced by it.  Eventually, those young skulls full of mush voted in a President who shared their Marxist professors’ views and the Marxist professors were finally  allowed to put their theories to the test. And we all know how that turned out.

Martin Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Ronald Reagan, diagnoses the problem in The Wall Street Journal: The Economy Is Worse Than You Think, and says it is still possible to recover:

The economy will continue to suffer until there is a coherent and favorable economic policy. That means bringing long-term deficits under control without raising marginal tax rates—by cutting government outlays and by limiting the tax expenditures that substitute for direct government spending. It means lower tax rates on businesses and individuals to spur entrepreneurship and investment. And it means reforming Social Security and Medicare to protect the living standards of future retirees while limiting the cost to future taxpayers.

All of these things are doable. But the Obama administration has not done them and shows no inclination to do them in the future.

How can the dreadful economy  be a boon for Republicans in 2012?

Ace thinks he may have found the answer: Walter Russell Mead Offers Republicans A Winning Campaign Narrative?

The Tea Party WMD stockpile is currently stored in book form: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon.

By Gretchen Morgenson, one of America’s best business journalists who is currently at The New York Times, and noted financial analyst Joshua Rosner, Reckless Endangerment gives the best available account of how the growing chaos in the mortgage and personal finance markets and the rampant bundling of dubious loans into exotically toxic securities plunged the world, and millions of American families, into the gravest financial crisis since World War Two. It is gripping reading as well, and its explanations are clear enough that readers without any background in finance will have no trouble following the plot. The villains? An unholy alliance between Wall Street, the Democratic establishment, community organizing groups like ACORN and La Raza, and politicians like Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Henry Cisneros. (Frank got a cushy job for a lover, Pelosi got a job and layoff protection for a son, Cisneros apparently got a license to mint money bilking Mexican-Americans of their life savings in cheesy housing developments.)

If the GOP can make this narrative mainstream, and put this picture into the heads of voters nationwide, the Democrats are toast. The party will have to reinvent itself (or as often happens in American politics, be rescued by equally stupid Republican missteps) before it can flourish.

Ace says it “sounds like this is what a lot of us have been talking about, in vaguer terms, since October of 2008″. We were shouting it from the rooftops in the Fall of 2008. Unfortunately, nobody was listening.

And now for something completely different:New York Post: Penis photo Weiner sent to online gal pal emerges

When you click on that you will still be a couple clicks away from Weiner’s weiner. And no, Breitbart did not release it. Aaron Worthing explains how it sprung up at Patterico.

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Ed Schultz’s Weiner-excusing guests, yesterday, said that if the photo were to be revealed, Weiner would have to resign.. Watch the goal-posts get moved, today.

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The Other McCain is watching the left-wing weasels squirm, and enjoying every minute of it: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: Belated Notice of Charles Johnson’s Total Beclownment and Joan Walsh: ‘I Look Kind of Stupid’.

“The lying is what disturbs me. He implicated a lot of us. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, let’s just say that. And, you know, I look kind of stupid. But on the other hand . . .”

No, ma’am. There is no “other hand.”

And….the timing seems a little off, here,  but - The Shark Tank is holding its: 1st Annual Hunky Hombres of the Conservative Blogosphere

Hey Sharky, where’s the Ewok?

I voted for that hunka hunka burnin’ hot Latin love: Val Prieto-Babalublog.com, but Allahpundit (who doesn’t even have a picture) is winning. Go vote.

If you’re looking for some reading material, you could do worse than  All American Blogger’s first eBook: I Bought a Gallon of Milk Today: The Best of All American Blogger, 2007-2011

Rush: Tony Weiner Is The Poster Boy For The Democrat Culture Of Corruption

Tony Weiner and the Democrat culture of corruption.

Rush Limbaugh doesn’t want to see Anthony Weiner resign. He kinda likes the idea of him being the face of “Democrat Family values”.

I think it was the Republican convention in Houston in ’92 when Woody Allen ditched Mia and went with the adopted daughter, and we were all saying, “That’s the guy, that’s the face of Democrat family values, Woody Allen.” Well, now, it’s Weiner.  Weiner is the face of Democrat family values.  He is the epitome of the Democrat culture of corruption, the Democrat culture of erection.  He is wrong on policy.  He is an admitted liar.  He used his office in Congress to conduct his lurid e-perversions.  The guy’s got it all, and I wholeheartedly endorse the fact that’s not going to resign.  He and his wife have been married less than a year, he said they’ve been through a lot together, in less than a year.  Tony Weiner is the Democrat Party writ small.  We want Weiner to stand firm here and not quit.  I’m just speaking for myself.  I do. I want him to hang in there and be tough ’cause he’s a perfect, perfect poster boy.  I mean look at the guy who married ‘em, Bill Clinton, (imitating Clinton) “Hey, I never had sex with that woman, not a single time, and I never asked anybody to lie, ever.”  Weiner hasn’t learned a whole lot.  Well, I don’t know how hard it is for Weiner to stand up to all this or not.  I don’t know.

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Top Dem Aides Say Pelosi And Other Top Democrats “Furious” With Weiner, Pressuring Him To Resign…

RUSH:  Oh, no, Fox is running a little story here, more and more people are calling for Weiner to quit.  No!  No, no, no, no.  We want Weiner there.  We want this guy as the poster boy of the Democrat culture of erection and corruption.  (interruption) What do you mean it’s gonna happen?  Gonna force him out?  You know, look at Andrew Cuomo, got a call from The Don.  Look at Bob Torricelli, got a call from Bill Clinton, both those guys shelved it for a while, Torricelli forever.  Andrew Cuomo, for a while.  You know, Bill Clinton calls him up and reads him the riot act.  And it was Clinton that married Weiner and Huma.  Yeah.

Anyway, great to have you back here, folks, El Rushbo, the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies.

Right, we want Weiner front and center.  Damn straight.

He makes a good point. How does it benefit conservatives for him to resign? Sure, it would be the right thing to do, but a Republican is never going to get elected in his district. I agree with Rush.  Dems deserve this nasty, shameless cretin. He’s just one more in a long line of of nasty, shameless, Democrat cretins. He fits right in, to tell the truth.

Speaking of “family values” – Here’s Ace riffing off of Zombie’s excellent essay on the worn-out lib “hypocrisy defense”, which I linked to yesterday.

The media will just keep insisting, at the time of scandal, that Democrats are sexually libertine and therefore are not hypocrites on these issues.

But at voting time? In campaign season? On election day?

Oddly enough, I never hear the media announce “And also running is Anthony Weiner, who, as you might know, does not particularly support families and also doesn’t subscribe to conventional moral beliefs.”

Funny, the media never tells me that when I’m getting ready to vote, but all of a sudden when a Democrat gets his prank caught in someone else’s in-box, then I’m told “Well of course he was never a big believer in your Victorian bourgeois sexual rigidity, you know.”

No, I didn’t know. No one ever mentioned that. Funny, I think some voters might have been interested to hear that before the actual day of the election.

You Know… This is entirely in the media’s power to prove or disprove.

They could just ask their beloved Democrats, on the record, if they consider themselves to be uninterested in conventional sexual morality.

And then, if a candidate says “Yeah, I’m sort of a sexual libertine, I don’t truck much with these artificial constraints on our expressions of ourselves as sexual beings,” I’d say, “Okay, well, that guy right there? He can’t really be a hypocrite on these issues.”

But, of course, they don’t ask this. Because they just want the public to assume that the Democrat in question “shares their values” — including on notions about sexuality — at election time.

True dat. It was always a weak defense, but this is a necessary discussion because there are a lot of ridiculous people out there who actually buy it.

Linked by Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, thanks!