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