COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Benghazi coverup and US media enablers

104 comments:

  1. The only benign explanation that makes any sense to me is that Obama felt a US attack on the attackers would further enflame events in the Middle East. As lame as that sounds, I suppose it is possible. The media is something else again. There is no high road leading to their lack of response and feigned indifference.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. No, that can't be it, because we know Obama told everybody to make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to. He says he gave the go ahead to take action, to do whatever was necessary to secure the personnel. He didn't stop an attack on the attackers. He said secure the personnel. Since no action was taken, then 1) none was necessary or 2) somebody fucked up and it wasn't him.

    He is trying to get to the bottom of this now. Sandy has delayed things a bit, so it for sure won't be until after the election when we next hear from the Commander -in - Chief.

    Also, by then, we won't have to worry that we are being misled by the media, as they will be out of the Obama protection business, just like he will be no longer Commander - in - Chief, come January.

    We will have to shift our focus to the media making up false charges against Romney business.

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  4. Unless Obama is lying about saying he told everybody to secure the personnel. In that case, I suppose it might be conceivable that he was benignly concerned about stirring up trouble in the Middle east, on the eve of a big vote. Which of course takes the benignity away, cause all he was really concerned about in that case was his own skinny political ass, to hell with the dead Americans.

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  5. There might be hope for a fairer press if there is a big blow out of Obama, and they realize that everyone knows they are just passing propagandistic gas, and there isn't any profit in it any long.

    Then to sell some papers and get viewers they might change their ways a bit.

    The internet is running them out of business anyway.

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  6. Then again, it could just possibly be he doesn't know what the hell he is doing, which at least in a way insulates him from malignancy charges.

    On the other hand, there are one or two 'malign muslin' theories out there now also to be considered. These are hard to deconstruct to the point of clarity, and have some internal complexities. With these it is probably better to wait a bit and see what else comes up, particularly in the way of infighting at the top of the Administration, CIA, military, and State. And who knows, from the jihadis themselves. One of these j's was seen drinking coffee or tea not long after the attack in a cafe, right out in the open. Maybe he will give an interview soon. Perhaps even on The View. Things have become so absurd.

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  7. Out among the sod busters in Iowa, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Quad Cities Times, Sioux City Journal and The Des Moines Register have all endorsed Romney, showing some sense still prevails in the vanishing heartland.

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  8. The pulled out the security personnel, they pulled out the DC-3,

    When they begged for their lives for hours, they refused to act.

    I heard an ex CIA guy say there is no way POTUS would not have been alerted immediately, not by e-mail, but by some special code, the name of which I forget, which is rarely used, but ALWAYS used when an Ambassador is imperiled.

    The father's description of what happened to his son turned my stomach in a way which few things have, going back to the animals slitting the Stews throats in front of a planeload of moms, dads, and kids, pics of buried women getting stoned to death, that line of hooded women kneeling waiting to be beheaded, the two gay 18 year olds at the gallows...

    ...course I'd take the gallows any day over stoning, just as I'd take it any day rather than being a POTUS that fiddles and goes to Vegas after letting a heroic warrior like that Seal willing to risk his life for our country, needlessly sacrificed by my inaction.

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    1. UPDATE: In an interview, earlier today (10-26), with KUSA-Denver, the president was asked whether requests for help were denied in real time. His answer:

      “Well, we are finding out exactly what happened… I can tell you as I have said over the last couple of months since this happened, that the minute I found out what was going on, I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to. Number two, we’re going to investigate exactly what happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice… I guarantee you that everybody in the State Department, our military, CIA, you name it, had as the number one priority making sure that people were safe.”

      Yet another blatant falsehood from the most dishonest president in modern times.

      *https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Conservative-Hammer/206783309358337

      Delete
  9. Rufie said:

    "$200 BILLION/YR More for Ships, and such, perfectly Okey-Dokey?"

    QE-3 is 40 Billion a month, printed for the benefit of Goldman, et-al, to profit buying bad loans.

    I'd rather have the ships than 5 months worth of that larceny/devaluation.

    ...and it would create a Hell of a lot more jobs, as well as making war less likely.

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  10. I want to know whether or not there was a prepositioned drone. If so, where did that come from, why, when. I've read so much stuff now I can't keep it straight.

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  11. Obama dominates Romney in Russian opinion poll


    An overwhelming percentage of Russians said the reelection of US President Barack Obama would better serve Russia’s national interests as opposed to the presidential challenger, Mitt Romney.

    With the presidential race in the United States going down to the wire among American voters, Mitt Romney must be thankful that Russian citizens are not eligible to vote in US elections.

    In a nationwide poll that tracked Russians’ political attitudes, a whopping 41 per cent of respondents said they want to see President Obama voted back into the White House, while just 8 per cent expressed preference for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.




    The Russians may be onto something there.

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  12. "I want to know whether or not there was a prepositioned drone."

    It's my understanding that lots of assets were prepositioned.

    ...and there would have been no point for the Seal to paint the mortars, unless he KNEW the assets were prepositioned...

    It's just that the OK to use them never came.

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    Replies
    1. I guess I mean was it prepositioned earlier as if they already knew an attack was coming, before the attack came.

      I'm tired. Bed.

      Delete
  13. Victor Davis Hansen writes well in this piece -

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/332001/wages-libya-victor-davis-hanson

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  14. China raises stakes over disputed islands

    By Kathrin Hille in Beijing and Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo
    ©AP

    China has started making concerted efforts to chase Japanese ships out of waters surrounding the disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, ratcheting up tensions between Asia’s two largest economies.

    The Chinese State Oceanic Administration – which enforces the nation’s maritime interests – said four of its ships on Tuesday tried to expel Japanese vessels out of waters where they were operating “illegally”.

    Dispute scuppers China-Japan summit

    Japan controls the Senkaku islands, but they are also claimed by China – which calls them the Diaoyu – and Taiwan. The Japanese coastguard in recent months has been playing cat and mouse games with Chinese vessels sailing near the Senkaku, and sometimes entering waters that Japan says are its territory.

    Japan’s coastguard said Chinese surveillance ships approached waters it controls close to 9am displaying a warning that read: “You are in waters administered by the People’s Republic of China. You are already breaching the law. Move away immediately.”

    Japan’s coastguard said it responded by warning the Chinese ships not to enter Japanese waters. It said that four Chinese ships entered the waters it claims but then left. A Chinese ship had previously sent out such a warning in September, the JCG said...

    ---

    Mr Li said the Chinese government was still restraining itself and would not lightly add to the tension. “But if the Japanese don’t change their ways and return to the path of negotiation, such friction could increase,” he said. “Then, it would not be a question of just four vessels but many more.”

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  15. I guess Rufie's right:
    The Chi-Coms are just building up their Navy to use as Playtoys.

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  16. Obama maintains:
    "...the minute I found out what was going on, I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to."

    Could it be that when informed of what was happening, this was the extent of his interest and involvement? He gave three very clear directives, perhaps more that he's not talking about. Did he then leave others to handle it as he went about his other business? Could it be that the minute he found out about the protest/attack was the only minute he was involved in it?

    What did he know and when did he know it?

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    Replies
    1. Give the guy a break. He acted 'the minute' he found out about it, about 'what was going on'. The guy is up there with Alexander the Great in his ability to size up a situation, pronto.

      When you are at that level of competence, you are fully able to do the directive, and Vegas too.

      Delete
  17. Was he fully engaged as Commander in Chief or was he busy rehearsing his Las Vegas zingers on Romney?

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  18. Was he too busy planning his own attacks?

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  19. Here's a Marine that doesn't take the Rufian view of the matter -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/no_men_in_the_white_house.html

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    1. In fact he considers the malignant muzzie in the White House outlook-

      Instead, what must have happened is that the unfolding crisis struck an elemental force in the White House. Some mindset which wouldn't book any contradiction, and it's not that difficult to figure out whose mind harbored that set. Take Barack Obama's iron determination never to offend the Muslim world -- never, that is, to underscore its weakness by making another boots-on-the-ground war in some part of it. He said as much on his original "apology tour" in Cairo; he demonstrated it in his abandonment of Iraq and via his determination to withdraw from Afghanistan -- not because it's a "worthless piece of dirt," as Colonel Ralph Peters so aptly described it, but simply because it's in his mind morally correct to do so. You can see it in one Ramadan dinner after another at the White House, his enthusiastic bowing, his description of the Muslim call to prayer as the most beautiful sound there is -- but most vividly, you see it in his refusal to allow American forces to participate in the aerial bombardment of Gaddafi's failing dictatorship.

      Because Obama is determined upon an American realignment towards the Muslim world. In fact, if he has one fixed foreign-policy idea, I suspect that this is it.

      So much so that the question of whether such a realignment is more a matter of perception than substance is unimportant. The question of whether or not it will lead to future gain is unimportant. The question of whether it will lead to greater security for Israel or Christian minorities in the Middle East is unimportant. Even the cruel fate of our people in Libya isn't important. Instead, what is important in Obama's mind, what is the only issue of importance, is his deeply rooted conviction that he has to prove himself to these people. That he owes them this gift.

      And everybody in the White House knows that. Knows they can't dispatch a U.S. Marine infantry company from offshore to our ambassador's rescue, know they can't allow former SEALs in the CIA to launch a rescue mission or Delta Force people positioned in Italy to fly in. Knows that under no circumstances can they authorize anything except an anonymous drone looksee, because boots on the ground can't be tolerated. Not by the big boss upstairs in the family quarters busy packing for Vegas.



      Delete
  20. The Storm by Theodore Roethke

    1

    Against the stone breakwater,
    Only an ominous lapping,
    While the wind whines overhead,
    Coming down from the mountain,
    Whistling between the arbors, the winding terraces;
    A thin whine of wires, a rattling and flapping of leaves,
    And the small street-lamp swinging and slamming against
    the lamp pole.

    Where have the people gone?
    There is one light on the mountain.2

    Along the sea-wall, a steady sloshing of the swell,
    The waves not yet high, but even,
    Coming closer and closer upon each other;
    A fine fume of rain driving in from the sea,
    Riddling the sand, like a wide spray of buckshot,
    The wind from the sea and the wind from the mountain contending,
    Flicking the foam from the whitecaps straight upward into the darkness.

    A time to go home!--
    And a child's dirty shift billows upward out of an alley,
    A cat runs from the wind as we do,
    Between the whitening trees, up Santa Lucia,
    Where the heavy door unlocks,
    And our breath comes more easy,--
    Then a crack of thunder, and the black rain runs over us, over
    The flat-roofed houses, coming down in gusts, beating
    The walls, the slatted windows, driving
    The last watcher indoors, moving the cardplayers closer
    To their cards, their anisette.3

    We creep to our bed, and its straw mattress.
    We wait; we listen.
    The storm lulls off, then redoubles,
    Bending the trees half-way down to the ground,
    Shaking loose the last wizened oranges in the orchard,
    Flattening the limber carnations.

    A spider eases himself down from a swaying light-bulb,
    Running over the coverlet, down under the iron bedstead.
    The bulb goes on and off, weakly.
    Water roars into the cistern.

    We lie closer on the gritty pillow,
    Breathing heavily, hoping--
    For the great last leap of the wave over the breakwater,
    The flat boom on the beach of the towering sea-swell,
    The sudden shudder as the jutting sea-cliff collapses,
    And the hurricane drives the dead straw into the living pine-tree.


    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_44loJa7Db6U/SO9uCbK9P5I/AAAAAAAAAIU/aPwkBk9oPRQ/s1600-h/kujgkg.bmp

    image

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  21. Risk Management Round 2

    Richard LeFrak was on CNBC saying he would need to rethink design standards because his buildings, most of which I take it are located in a floodplain, were designed to 100-yr event, which in this instance translated to an 11-ft flood depth. Sandy came in at 13 ft. Defining floodplain depth is not an exact science. Be interesting to see how much money the developers will be willing to fork over for stricter design standards. The gods must be angry.

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  22. Maybe there's something to that theory about "heat melting ice."

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    1. Absolutely - the changing data base being causationally distinct from more stringent design standards. Dating but not engaged:

      Just eight months earlier, the Princeton University professor reported that what used to be once-in-a-century devastating floods in New York City would soon happen every three to 20 years. He blamed global warming for pushing up sea levels and changing hurricane patterns.

      But:

      Still, they say it's unfair to blame climate change for Sandy and the destruction it left behind. They cautioned that they cannot yet conclusively link a single storm to global warming, and any connection is not as clear and simple as environmental activists might contend.

      The continuum.

      Delete
  23. I suppose the "you've got more kooks and worse kooks than we do" meme is dangerously low-rent for an adult conversation about politics, but dang if it doesn't appear to be true, going back to Lee Atwater and trending downhill ever since. It's too easy to criticize political smear, politics not being closely related to ladies softball, but it does seem that Atwater introduced a noticeable inflection point in the integrity curve. "Boogie Man" Atwater (a music reference although it could be interpreted the other way) was well liked by his peers, respected even. At any rate, when the subject is liberal media bias, it helps to consider the substrate they're working with. You can't make this stuff up. And I must say, it's hard to imagine these people as serious capitalists let alone serious statists. The brand needs refurbishing when the audience response reduces to dismissive mockery. As a dull lonely bored retired person, I watch a lot of CNBC, and I'm seeing a snide ennui between the lines, admittedly from the younger people who can arguably be in need of seasoning but still, a rough few years ahead.

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  24. The Jersey Shore is devastated. I'm having a hard time "getting into" politics this morning. Maybe, another cup of coffee will help. :)

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    1. Have an espresso and croissant, or maybe a bearclaw. The disk does get full after so much slinging.

      Delete
    2. Definitely a "French Roast" and danish type of guy. :)

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    3. We don't have good pastry where I live so it's back to egg mcmuffins for me. The coffee's OK.

      Delete
    4. That would be Danish from the local "Quick Shop." :)

      Delete
  25. Euro Unemployment not at 11.6%. Second qtr of contraction. Definitely in full-fledged recession.

    Crappy Europe - Bloomberg

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  26. Nat Gas $3.74

    Up 95% from bottom

    5 percent from a Double.

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  27. Mitt Romney's round of highly dubious television and radio ads suggesting that Chrysler and GM are shipping American jobs to China has managed to offend both car companies.

    A spokesperson for General Motors told the Detroit Free Press that the ad was, more or less, crass and misleading.

    “We've clearly entered some parallel universe during these last few days,” GM spokesman Greg Martin said. “No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country.”

    The day before, meanwhile, Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne penned a letter to the Detroit News insisting that there was no validity to the idea that the company was shipping Jeep production overseas. Instead, he noted, the company was looking to open new factories in China to meet increasing demand there.

    Which side is coarsening and compromising the public debate?

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  28. Investors look to Home Depot after Hurricane Sandy. Have you hugged a trader today?

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  29. Replies
    1. Thank you for the Rickie Lee

      Delete
    2. :)

      Got it (I think - Bruce needs to keep his day job. Not that he needs a second job.)

      I have one of her vinyls from college down in the basement. Her idea of cool still hanging in there. Consummate vocalist.

      Delete


  30. Until recently, backup generators “seemed to be the purview of the commercial space,” said Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel and an expert on luxury real estate. Typically, they were considered de rigueur only by financial-services firms, health-care companies, and other vital cogs in the economy that can’t abide even a brief interruption in power. “But I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more interest in the introduction of this into residential buildings going forward,” Miller said.

    ...

    Indeed, the rising incidence of power outages is changing the suburban view of status. It used to be all about finishes and brand names—Sub-Zero refrigerators, Viking ranges, three-car garages, an indoor pool. But all those toys and amenities are useless without electricity. In times like these, infrastructure suddenly becomes an object of desire.

    Infrastructure

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  31. The boardwalk probably needed rebuilding.

    The Atlantic City Boardwalk was the first boardwalk in the United States, having opened on June 26, 1870.

    The Boardwalk starts at Absecon Inlet in the north and runs along the beach south-west to the city limit four miles (six kilometers) away then continues one and one half miles (two kilometers) into Ventnor City. Casino/hotels front the boardwalk, as well as retail stores, restaurants, and amusements. Notable attractions include the Boardwalk Hall, House of Blues, and the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum.

    On 28-29 October 2012 Hurricane Sandy destroyed the northern part of the boardwalk fronting Absecon Inlet, in the residential section called South Inlet. The oceanfront boardwalk in front of the Atlantic City casinos survived the storm undamaged.

    Some of the reporting is overdone. "A bridge completely under water."


    Pope to arrive for a survey of the damage on Friday. Charles and Kate expected next week. No word on Sean Penn's whereabouts.

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  32. Remember when George Soros was "buying" Obama a seat in the White House?

    Revenge of the Billionaires

    Total non-party outside spending is now estimated by the Center for Responsive Politics to exceed over $1 billion this cycle—twice what the group estimated would be spent as recently as August. And dark money spending from non-disclosing groups has just passed $200 million in this election—more than every other election cycle over the past 20 years combined.

    If you think the political ads are uglier than ever before, it’s not your imagination: 88% of the ads airing now from outside groups are negative, and four-fifths of those negative ads are attacks on Democrats. Just three conservative groups—the Karl Rove-founded Crossroads GPS, the Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—account for more spending than the next 17 outside groups combined.

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    1. The combination of unprecedented outside spending, overwhelming negativity, hidden donor disclosure and the near-total conservative dominance in this shadowy arena should be chilling to anyone who believes in open democracy conducted on a level playing field. This is perilously close to what buying elections looks like.

      Delete
    2. If this goes like it looks like it's going, I wonder if they'll "go big" again in 2016?

      Delete
    3. Right now, it looks like they've got themselves one of those

      "the danged dogs just won't eat it" problems.

      :)

      Delete
    4. Too damned funny Rufus.

      That's what I was thinking. Although I agree with many of your positive points about Obama, at some point the money needs to make peace with the institutional 'infrastructure.' If we learned nothing from 2008 we should have earned that.

      The Republicans made two/three mistakes. They went "big," as you note, (and dirty, the two seemingly correlated, but I contend both were tactical mistakes), they went deep (ideological with anti-statist libertarian theses attacking government programs that are keeping much of the middle class above water), and they went after the our cars.

      "Parallel universe" indeed. You can almost smell the apoplexy.

      Delete
  33. Read 'em and weep:

    The congressional aide dismissed talk about the politics of disaster relief. “The last thing that Americans who suffered this devastation and are trying to rebuild their lives want to see is a political fight,” he said. “If more funds are needed, Congress should come together and act in a bipartisan fashion.”

    Republicans opposed disaster relief that wasn’t paid for after Hurricane Irene battered much of the East Coast last year. Democrats hammered them for supporting tax cuts for the wealthy without such “pay-fors.” Recognizing they were losing the public-relations wars, Republicans backed off.

    If more money is needed for rebuilding efforts after Sandy, Republicans will have to decide whether this is a fight they want to wage again. A Republican leadership aide, asked if there was any discussion of a supplemental funding bill, said simply: “Not yet.”

    God's messin' with the Republicans' heads.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, the effected American people expect the government to pay for their losses.

      Delete
  34. We have a government for a (many) reason(s.)

    ReplyDelete
  35. The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on 16 March 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." Until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an engineer officer. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and, for a while, the only engineering school in the country. The Corps's authority over river works in the United States began with its fortification of New Orleans after the War of 1812.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Gingrich: Senator told me networks may have White House emails commanding counter terrorism group to stand down on Benghazi rescue

    1:07 AM 10/31/2012

    Jeff Poor

    On Tuesday night’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” on the Fox News Channel, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that major news networks might have secret emails proving that the White House canceled plans to assist the besieged U.S. consulate in Benghazi.


    Gingrich said that the bombshell emails could be revealed within the next two days.

    “There is a rumor — I want to be clear, it’s a rumor — that at least two networks have emails from the National Security Adviser’s office telling a counterterrorism group to stand down,” Gingrich said. “But they were a group in real-time trying to mobilize marines and C-130s and the fighter aircraft, and they were told explicitly by the White House stand down and do nothing. This is not a terrorist action. If that is true, and I’ve been told this by a fairly reliable U.S. senator, if that is true and comes out, I think it raises enormous questions about the president’s role, and Tom Donilon, the National Security Adviser’s role, the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has taken it on his own shoulders, that he said don’t go. And that is, I think, very dubious, given that the president said he had instructions they are supposed to do everything they could to secure American personnel.”

    After noting that the rumor, if true, would have a substantial impact on the presidential election, Gingrich pointed to another possible “October surprise” in the coming days.

    “The other big story, I think, that is going to break is on corruption and extraordinary waste in the solar power grants and direct involvement by the Obama White House, including the president, in the solar panel grants involving billions of dollars, and I suspect that’s going to break Wednesday and Thursday of this week,” Gingrich added.


    Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/31/gingrich-rumor-says-networks-have-white-house-emails-telling-counterterrorism-group-to-stand-down-on-benghazi-rescue/#ixzz2Atqy89xj

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (bringing the conversation back to things you don't want to think about)

      Delete
    2. You don't want to think that the actions of the insubordinate civilian CIA employees screwed the pooch, getting themselves and the Ambassador killed during a secret and clandestine operation?

      Delete
    3. I am waiting for Obama's authoritative report due out after the election.

      Delete
    4. I simply can't get a handle on it. At first I thought it was all caused by some kid making a video in his basement in LA, which caused a riot. Obama says he did everything he could possibly do, but somehow it all went wrong. Best just to wait and see.

      Maybe some e-mails will come out, and give us all a better sense of it.

      Delete
  37. Rufus, Ash, DRR, you don't suppose Obama could be lying about shit and the media covering for him, do you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh, of course, the media conspires regularly to thwart you rube repbublicans! Nope, no need for tinfoil hat for you.

      Delete
  38. I'm afraid a li'l gal named "Sandy," and a Pub named Christie have sucked all the oxygen out of that room, Bob.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are very easily distracted, it is true.

      Delete
    2. Here Ruf, concentrate on this for awhile -

      http://hotair.com/archives/2012/10/31/issa-obama-admin-has-for-too-long-attempted-to-distance-itself-from-green-energy-bankruptcies-and-failures/

      if you are needing something to think about.

      Delete
    3. .

      Nah, Ruf's just hyperventilating again. All he needs to do is relax and try breathing into a paper bag.


      .

      Delete
  39. Here is the antidote to news bias, coming soon -

    The Tea Party gets a news site



    By DYLAN BYERS |
    10/31/12 3:38 PM EDT

    Tea Party conservatives are getting their very own news site.

    The Tea Party News Network, self-described as "the only trusted news source and the antidote to mainstream media bias," is already live but will announce its launch tomorrow morning, with plans to start live video on election day. TPNN claims to have a "war room of 40-plus volunteers" who will operate out of the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, and has established partnerships with the Talk Radio Network and radio host Rusty Humphries, who will be co-anchoring the election night coverage.



    "There are plenty of news websites out there, but there isn’t one that caters directly to Tea Party conservatives, providing activists with coverage and opinion that matters to them. The Tea Party News Network changes that," Todd Cefaratti, editor of the Tea Party News Network, said in a statement for the forthcoming press release.

    As with many right-wing news sites, TPNN puts heavy emphasis on the anti-mainstream media message: "We don’t need our supposed betters in the mainstream media telling us which stories matter or what we should think. We don’t mindlessly mimic the talking points of Washington leaders. The Tea Party movement now has a home for news it can trust."


    Truth be told, it's not as though Tea Party conservatives have been homeless on the web. Most right-wing news and opinion sites, including the Media Research Center and the Breitbart network, cater to those who would label themselves members of the Tea Party. But this is the first site of its scope to apply the branding and assert itself as "the voice of the Tea Party." Cefaratti is also promising to be "a vigilant watchdog on Washington’s leaders regardless of the outcome of the November election."

    "TPNN is not going to be just any other conservative backwater on the Internet," said Keith Urbahn, who heads the PR firm promoting the site and recently served as chief of staff to former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

    Election coverage will be co-hosted by Humphries and TPNN News Director Scottie Nell Hughes, with a particular focus on Tea Party-backed candidates like Ted Cruz, Allen West, Michelle Bachmann, and Mia Love.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Obama pulling way out in front of Romney in Ohio -


    PPP: Obama leads by 5 in Ohio, 50/45 …
    posted at 12:41 pm on October 31, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

    No wonder David Axelrod thinks that Barack Obama can win Ohio without winning independents. According to the latest Buckeye State poll from PPP, they only need an extra five points from non-Democrats to get a majority:

    A new Public Policy Polling survey in Ohio, conducted on behalf of Health Care for America Now, finds Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney 50-45.

    Oh, let’s just skip the rest of the preliminaries and go right to the sample. The D/R/I on this poll is a ridiculous 45/36/19 that assumes Democrats will add six points to their 2008 turnout while independents largely stay home. In 2008, recall, the exit polls showed the electorate at 39/31/30, and the 2010 midterm put it at 36/37/28. Has anyone produced any evidence of such a wave of Democratic enthusiasm? Even the CBS/NYT/Q-poll today showed GOP enthusiasm leading by 14 in Ohio, 57/43.

    PPP also is one of the few polls to show independents not breaking significantly to Romney. Instead, PPP has them both tied at 45% with six days left to go. The 10% undecided in this case would probably have to break toward the challenger, since Obama’s underwater with independents on favorability (46/48) and especially on job approval (42/50).

    This poll is good for a laugh, but that’s about it.



    Meanwhile, the lightly watched but incredibly accurate BPP, the poll the experts watch, has it Romeny 53
    Obama 47 in Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Interestingly, Bob, you're missing the Only thing your guys have going for them right now.

    Most of the areas that are looking at "electricity/transportation" problems up to, and INCLUDING, Election Day are Densely Populated Core Democratic Areas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quirk just posted a worthy suggestion for you Ruf -


      Nah, Ruf's just hyperventilating again. All he needs to do is relax and try breathing into a paper bag.


      :)

      Delete
    2. .

      Actually, I was just kidding. Rufus made a good point about Sandy helping Obama.

      In just a couple of days, Sandy has created more jobs than Obama has in four years.

      .

      Delete
  42. Until the Chief gives us his in depth report on Benghazi right after the election, all we can do is keep our ears to the ground -


    Sean Hannity on Benghazi Audio Tapes: “I’ve Heard They Are Damning” (Video)
    Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 8:37 PM



    The heroes on the ground called for help – Obama did nothing.
    It Was Dereliction of Duty


    Sean Hannity was debating liberal Juan Williams Tuesday on the Benghazi massacre. Hannity revealed this on the audio tapes of Tyrone Woods begging for air support on 9-11,
    “My sources tell me they’re pretty damning, Juan. They’re begging for help.”

    Tyrone Woods was screaming for air support and Barack Obama did nothing.
    Then he lied about it.

    Hannity later said there are three tapes the Obama administration is holding onto including audio of Tyrone Woods begging for air support.

    Let’s hope the impeachment proceedings begin before Obama leaves office in January.


    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/sean-hannity-on-benghazi-slaughter-audio-tapes-ive-heard-they-are-damning-video/

    video

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure the tea party cartoon netwerck will have them available any day now. :)

      Delete
    2. They'd post 'em if they had 'em that's for sure.

      Delete
  43. .

    Only a week to go.

    I expect to be inundated by a bipartisan flood of 'breaking news' stories and outrageous claims right up to the end including some that won't be disproved or discounted until after the election.

    Here we have six major proposals on the ballot all of which are being pushed by special interests and all of which would change the state constitution to limit the state's flexibility and ability to react to changing conditions.

    The theme here this year seems to be 'protect the children', 'protect abused women', and 'go tough on child abusers'. I'm assuming it is related to the Penn State scandal. However, the airways are flooded by almost identical political adds for everyone from judges (at every level) to dog catchers that start out promising that one candidate will 'protect the kids' or abused mothers from child molesters or abusive significant others. Those that don't make promises merely accuse other candidates of being easy on molesters or abusers.

    Lordy, I will be glad when it's November 7.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  44. Replies
    1. Bwahahahahaha

      “I think once a dog kind of chooses a major, that’s what they stick with,” Palmore posited.

      “You don’t want coon dogs chasing squirrels,” agreed Justice Antonin Scalia.


      If you think this is bad, wait under you get one or two more ObamaJustices on that court.

      Delete
    2. You can't make this sniff up....

      Delete
    3. .

      Justice Kagan,

      “Suppose this really were a very simple procedure,” Kagan told the lawyer who was arguing that drug-sniffing dogs cannot be used to justify search warrants. “The dog comes up, takes a sniff, barks, sits down. And . . . the dog is not a scary-looking dog; the dog is a cockapoo. So just like, you know, your neighbor with his cockapoo, walks up to your door all the time, that’s what this police officer has done.”

      The lawyer, Howard K. Blumberg, conceded that the dog in the case, Franky, although not a cockapoo, “appears to be a very cute dog.” But, he argued, “it’s not what the dog looks like, it’s what the dog is doing on the front porch.”

      The Cockapoo Test, alas, may not be one for the casebooks. But after Wednesday morning at the Supreme Court, this much we know for sure: The Roberts court has gone to the dogs...



      .

      Delete
  45. In an all out effort to keep dastardly partisanship under control, my daughter reports the local democrats are no longer affixing the label "Democrat for X office" to their literature.

    There could not be any other reason, could there?

    ReplyDelete
  46. I report, you decide, deride......

    http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/libyans-al-qaida-handled-security-at-tripoli-embassy/

    ReplyDelete
  47. I'm hoping, but not betting, that the newest sex scandal Senator making the news is Harry Reid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could be Frankenstein, or Menendez.

      Delete
    2. Or bacchanalian Baucus. He loves his cups.

      Delete
    3. Whitehouse is smarmy, so is Schumer.

      Delete
    4. Drudge says 'powerful Senator'. That argues in favor of Reid, but, can he get it up? Maybe he wouldn't have to.

      Delete
    5. Underage hookers? That again might mean Reid.

      Delete
    6. Durban took his turban off?

      Delete
    7. That dick Richard Blumenthal who served in Vietnam but really didn't?

      Delete
    8. I feel like Caesar calling out the Senators to see who slept with his daughter. They all did.

      They're all dicks.

      :)

      Delete
    9. It was Debbie Stabenow, in the hot tub, with Jennifer Granholm.

      Buck

      Delete
    10. Non-TV watching Doug has a stupid question:

      Why did all those houses burn?
      ...was it 'cause the firetrucks couldn't get there because of the flood?

      Delete
  48. Don't know Doug but sounds logical.

    It's Menendez, and he short changed the hookers.

    Democrats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is, admittedly, a sorry lame sex scandal, hardly worth the time.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, I was hoping Bill was screwin Michelle behind Barry's skinny behind.
      No such luck.

      A twofer:

      Fucking over both POTUS and the Sec of State.
      ...again.

      Delete
  49. Al Zawahiri did it.

    Because the Benghazi attack coincided exactly with the AQ attack on our Cairo Embassy, both on September 11 of this year, this was apparently a central command decision by AQ, presumably ordered by Osama bin Laden's successor, Al Zawahiri, in Pakistan using a video released on the web shortly before those attacks. The message was "al-Qaeda lives!" Everybody who saw the news photos that day got that message. Only Obama is in public denial.

    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/benghazi_reveals_obama-islamist_alliance.html#ixzz2Awi8VqND

    I read a little ago that Hillary is in Algeria evidently trying to talk them into moving into Mali to dust off the jihadis who are taking over there using arms they have gotten from Libya!

    My God, My God.....

    ReplyDelete
  50. Must read Jerusalem Post article and interview.

    http://blogs.jpost.com/content/benghazi-october-surprise


    Israeli media is more interested than ours, and for good reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  51. So far those fuckin' slackers the Amish seem to have gotten a break -

    America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President

    When one observes President Obama’s unwillingness to accommodate America’s four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic. But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian. But that, too, would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular. So perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor. In fact, there have been numerous clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of his anti-Biblical actions.


    http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=106938

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Acts of hostility toward people of Biblical faith:

      April 2008 – Obama speaks disrespectfully of Christians, saying they “cling to guns or religion” and have an “antipathy to people who aren't like them.” 1

      February 2009 – Obama announces plans to revoke conscience protection for health workers who refuse to participate in medical activities that go against their beliefs, and fully implements the plan in February 2011. 2

      April 2009 – When speaking at Georgetown University, Obama orders that a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name be covered when he is making his speech. 3

      May 2009 – Obama declines to host services for the National Prayer Day (a day established by federal law) at the White House. 4

      April 2009 – In a deliberate act of disrespect, Obama nominated three pro-abortion ambassadors to the Vatican; of course, the pro-life Vatican rejected all three. 5

      October 19, 2010 – Obama begins deliberately omitting the phrase about “the Creator” when quoting the Declaration of Independence – an omission he has made on no less than seven occasions. 6

      November 2010 – Obama misquotes the National Motto, saying it is “E pluribus unum” rather than “In God We Trust” as established by federal law. 7

      January 2011 – After a federal law was passed to transfer a WWI Memorial in the Mojave Desert to private ownership, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the cross in the memorial could continue to stand, but the Obama administration refused to allow the land to be transferred as required by law, and refused to allow the cross to be re-erected as ordered by the Court. 8

      February 2011 – Although he filled posts in the State Department, for more than two years Obama did not fill the post of religious freedom ambassador, an official that works against religious persecution across the world; he filled it only after heavy pressure from the public and from Congress. 9

      April 2011 – For the first time in American history, Obama urges passage of a non-discrimination law that does not contain hiring protections for religious groups, forcing religious organizations to hire according to federal mandates without regard to the dictates of their own faith, thus eliminating conscience protection in hiring. 10

      August 2011 – The Obama administration releases its new health care rules that override religious conscience protections for medical workers in the areas of abortion and contraception. 11

      November 2011 – Obama opposes inclusion of President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous D-Day Prayer in the WWII Memorial. 12

      November 2011 – Unlike previous presidents, Obama studiously avoids any religious references in his Thanksgiving speech. 13

      December 2011 – The Obama administration denigrates other countries' religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights. 14



      Delete
    2. January 2012 – The Obama administration argues that the First Amendment provides no protection for churches and synagogues in hiring their pastors and rabbis. 15

      February 2012 – The Obama administration forgives student loans in exchange for public service, but announces it will no longer forgive student loans if the public service is related to religion. 16

      2. Acts of hostility from the Obama-led military toward people of Biblical faith:

      June 2011 – The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery. 17

      August 2011 – The Air Force stops teaching the Just War theory to officers in California because the course is taught by chaplains and is based on a philosophy introduced by St. Augustine in the third century AD – a theory long taught by civilized nations across the world (except America). 18

      September 2011 – Air Force Chief of Staff prohibits commanders from notifying airmen of programs and services available to them from chaplains. 19

      September 2011 – The Army issues guidelines for Walter Reed Medical Center stipulating that “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” 20

      November 2011 – The Air Force Academy rescinds support for Operation Christmas Child, a program to send holiday gifts to impoverished children across the world, because the program is run by a Christian charity. 21

      November 2011 – The Air Force Academy pays $80,000 to add a Stonehenge-like worship center for pagans, druids, witches and Wiccans. 22

      February 2012 – The U. S. Military Academy at West Point disinvites three star Army general and decorated war hero Lieutenant General William G. (“Jerry”) Boykin (retired) from speaking at an event because he is an outspoken Christian. 23

      February 2012 – The Air Force removes “God” from the patch of Rapid Capabilities Office (the word on the patch was in Latin: Dei). 24

      February 2012 – The Army orders Catholic chaplains not to read a letter to parishioners that their archbishop asked them to read. 25

      April 2012 – A checklist for Air Force Inns will no longer include ensuring that a Bible is available in rooms for those who want to use them.26

      Delete
    3. May 2012 - The Obama administration opposes legislation to protect the rights of conscience for military chaplains who do not wish to perform same-sex marriages in violation of their strongly-held religious beliefs.27

      June 2012 - Bibles for the American military have been printed in every conflict since the American Revolution, but the Obama Administration revokes the long-standing U. S. policy of allowing military service emblems to be placed on those military Bibles.28

      3. Acts of hostility toward Biblical values:

      January 2009 – Obama lifts restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations. 29

      January 2009 – President Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of state asserts that American taxpayers are required to pay for abortions and that limits on abortion funding are unconstitutional. 30

      March 2009 – The Obama administration shut out pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored health care summit. 31

      March 2009 – Obama orders taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research. 32

      March 2009 – Obama gave $50 million for the UNFPA, the UN population agency that promotes abortion and works closely with Chinese population control officials who use forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations. 33

      May 2009 – The White House budget eliminates all funding for abstinence-only education and replaces it with “comprehensive” sexual education, repeatedly proven to increase teen pregnancies and abortions. 34 He continues the deletion in subsequent budgets. 35

      May 2009 – Obama officials assemble a terrorism dictionary calling pro-life advocates violent and charging that they use racism in their “criminal” activities. 36

      July 2009 – The Obama administration illegally extends federal benefits to same-sex partners of Foreign Service and Executive Branch employees, in direction violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 37

      September 16, 2009 – The Obama administration appoints as EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, who asserts that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs,” including religious beliefs, if they may negatively affect homosexual “equality.” 38

      July 2010 – The Obama administration uses federal funds in violation of federal law to get Kenya to change its constitution to include abortion. 39

      August 2010 – The Obama administration Cuts funding for 176 abstinence education programs. 40

      Delete
    4. September 2010 – The Obama administration tells researchers to ignore a judge’s decision striking down federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. 41

      February 2011 – Obama directs the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 42

      March 2011 – The Obama administration refuses to investigate videos showing Planned Parenthood helping alleged sex traffickers get abortions for victimized underage girls. 43

      July 2011 – Obama allows homosexuals to serve openly in the military, reversing a policy originally instituted by George Washington in March 1778. 44

      September 2011 – The Pentagon directs that military chaplains may perform same-sex marriages at military facilities in violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 45

      October 2011 – The Obama administration eliminates federal grants to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their extensive programs that aid victims of human trafficking because the Catholic Church is anti-abortion. 46

      4. Acts of preferentialism for Islam:

      May 2009 – While Obama does not host any National Day of Prayer event at the White House, he does host White House Iftar dinners in honor of Ramadan. 47

      April 2010 – Christian leader Franklin Graham is disinvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer Event because of complaints from the Muslim community. 48

      April 2010 – The Obama administration requires rewriting of government documents and a change in administration vocabulary to remove terms that are deemed offensive to Muslims, including jihad, jihadists, terrorists, radical Islamic, etc. 49

      August 2010 – Obama speaks with great praise of Islam and condescendingly of Christianity. 50

      August 2010 – Obama went to great lengths to speak out on multiple occasions on behalf of building an Islamic mosque at Ground Zero, while at the same time he was silent about a Christian church being denied permission to rebuild at that location. 51

      Delete
    5. 2010 – While every White House traditionally issues hundreds of official proclamations and statements on numerous occasions, this White House avoids traditional Biblical holidays and events but regularly recognizes major Muslim holidays, as evidenced by its 2010 statements on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha. 52

      October 2011 – Obama’s Muslim advisers block Middle Eastern Christians’ access to the White House. 53

      February 2012 – The Obama administration makes effulgent apologies for Korans being burned by the U. S. military, 54 but when Bibles were burned by the military, numerous reasons were offered why it was the right thing to do. 55

      Many of these actions are literally unprecedented – this is the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of President Obama toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president.
      .......

      End notes omitted, too long to cite

      Dale may be right, guy's a muslim

      Delete
  52. His only notable new idea in this campaign is to alter the First Amendment in order to empower government to restrict the amount of permissible political speech — speech about the composition and conduct of government. Nancy Pelosi pledges that if Democrats control the House, they will pass this constriction of the Bill of Rights on the first day.

    All politicians are to some extent salesmen. But Obama, having devalued the coin of presidential rhetoric by the promiscuous production of it, increasingly resembles a particular salesman, Arthur Miller’s Willy Loman:

    “For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back — that’s an earthquake.”

    Why the empty stridency of the last days of Obama’s last campaign?

    Perhaps he feels an earthquake’s first tremors.


    George Will

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-obamas-empty-strident-campaign/2012/10/31/a674ca54-237d-11e2-8448-81b1ce7d6978_story.html

    ReplyDelete