Dave and Blarney at the Inauguration

Dave: Well, Blarney, your man gave a great speech. I only hope he will be a great president.

Blarney: Dave, have you nothing good to say?

Dave: Weren’t you listening to me? I said the speech was great.

Blarney: That’s the problem with you right wing Looney Tunes. You are always criticizing our great President. Look at the mess Bush made of the last eight years.

Dave: Blarney, get a grip. I did not criticize President Obama. And to what specific mess do you refer? The fact that we were not attacked since 9-11? Or is it the fact that we have liberated over 50 million Iraqis and Afghanis?

Blarney: The economy, stupid! Bush absolutely ran the economy into the ground. Look at the unemployment – look at the banking crisis – look at that mess!

Dave: For seven of the eight years, the economy was doing well, although you would not have known that if all you listened to was the drive-by media. If you actually did some research and looked at the facts, you would see that unemployment has been lower than previous administrations until this last quarter when the economy finally caught up to the dire reporting.

Blarney: This is worst economy since the Great Depression!

Dave: Blarney, that’s just not true. This might be the worst economy since Jimmy Carter, but unemployment and inflation are actually still lower than during his watch. Again, do some research and look at the facts.

Blarney: I need a bailout. My stocks have tanked.

Dave: You do know that the Democrats were in charge for the last two years, don’t you? Since 2006, they have had a majority in Congress. Congress makes laws. Congress oversees the Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac corporations that caused the banking crisis. Congress raised the minimum wage, which, predictably, caused a rise in unemployment. You know that the Democrat controlled Congress had a lower approval rating than President Bush.

Blarney: Of course, the rating was low – it’s those darned Republicans. That’s why we voted for change! Change we can believe in! Yes we can!

Dave: Blarney, the Republicans were not in control of Congress during this debacle – the Democrats were.

Blarney: Says who? You? Am I supposed to believe that right-wing propaganda?

Dave: Look at the Senate and House statistics for yourself. Do you know who the Speaker of the House is?

Blarney: I sure do, it’s Nancy Pelosi.

Dave: Right. And do you know who the Senate Majority Leader is?

Blarney: Well, of course. That would be Harry Reid.

Dave: I’m impressed. That’s better than most people. Now you know that they are both Democrats, don’t you? And you know that those positions are filled by the majority party don’t you?

Blarney: Well,…yeah…Oh!...er….But that doesn’t mean that the Democrats were in control!

Dave: [Sigh]

McCain, Obama, and the "Credit Crisis"

OK. Let's review the bidding.
1977 - Jimmuh Cahtuh and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) - Encourage banks to make loans to risky clients.
Enter ACORN

ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national
headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. To maintain
independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt.

Since 1970 ACORN ( Association of [originally Arkansas] Community Organizations for Reform Now) has been pressuring banks to make loans to high-risk clients. In 1990, they launched the first challenge to block a merger based on non-compliance with CRA.

2004 - Republicans want to investigate Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Democrats oppose.

2008 - The bad loans begin to default. Freddie and Fannie hold a huge portfolio of bad paper.

2008 - President Bush, Pelosi, Reid, etc (including both McCain and Obama) push for a $700 billion bailout which is widely opposed by Main Street America. It fails in the House and the finger-pointing begins. McCain calls it a failure to act. Congress did act. They REJECTED the bailout, as the majority of Americans wanted them to. It was Bi-Partisan, with nearly 100 Democrats voting against it. Even ACORN opposed the bailout, even though a staggering amount of the funds would have gone to ACORN (in direct opposition to their statement above).

2008-Sep 29 - The market (Dow Jones Average) falls over 770 points in one day, the largest single point loss in history. As a percentage of the Dow, however, it is about 6.5% and would not make the list of the ten largest drops.

2008-Sep-30 - The market rebounds with the Dow gaining 485 points. Meanwhile, the media and the political talking heads decry the tragedy of not getting the bailout pushed through.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. And visit here for more information.

In case you missed the Congressional Response to the "Betray US" AD

MoveOn.org ran a subsidized ad in the New York times implying that General Petraeus could be called General "Betray Us".

In response, Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex) sponsored an amendment expressing support for the General and condemning the personal attacks.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110^th Congress - 1^st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Cornyn Amdt. No. 2934 )
Vote Number:	344	Vote Date:	September 20, 2007, 12:36 PM
Required For Majority:	3/5	Vote Result:	Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number:	S.Amdt. 2934 to S.Amdt. 2011 to H.R. 1585 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)
Statement of Purpose:	To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

Vote Counts:	YEAs	72
	NAYs	25
	Not Voting	3

You would think that would be a fairly straightforward proposition. The moveOn ad was despicable. Yet, there were 25 who voted against the resolution. Here are the names and votes. (Blue are Democrat or Independents who voted in favor of the resolution. Red are current or former Democrat Presidential candidates or Majority Leader):
Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---72
Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC)	Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hagel (R-NE) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johnson (D-SD) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Leahy (D-VT) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN)	Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Roberts (R-KS) Salazar (D-CO) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) Webb (D-VA)

NAYs ---25
Akaka (D-HI) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Clinton (D-NY) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)	Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Levin (D-MI) Menendez (D-NJ) Murray (D-WA) Reed (D-RI)	Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-MI) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3
Biden (D-DE)	Cantwell (D-WA)	Obama (D-IL)

Notice that two of the current crop decided not to be on record one way or the other. Also notice that the anointed President (Clinton) was just fine with the ad.

Iraqi Freedom Death Toll

According to the DoD, the total casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan to date are 3,299 Killed in Action (KIA) plus 860 deaths from non-combat causes. That means we can shortly expect another round of cheering as we go over a new benchmark for the drive-by media: 3,300 combat deaths for US forces in the War on Terror. Or maybe they will wait for the 3,100 deaths in Iraq. At any rate, there are some interesting things to note about what is not reported. In the 41 days of active combat against Iraqi forces, we lost 109 in combat, or 2.65 per day. In the 1,611 days since, we have lost 2,942 due to enemy actions. That comes to about 1.83 per day. In a typical year we lose anywhere from 31,693 to 42,884 on our highways. That is a minimum (taking 31,693 and a leap year) of 82 per day. So, on average, our soldiers are safer fighting in Iraq than we are driving here.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE 2132 29 Aug 2007:
Stories you won't see in the drive-by media:
29 Aug 2007-
Coalition Kills More Than 100 Insurgents in Afghanistan Engagement
Coalition Forces Kill Two Terrorists, Detain 22 Suspects in Iraq

28 Aug 2007
Coalition Troops Kill, Detain Dozens, Seize Weapons in Iraq
Afghan, Coalition Troops Kill, Capture Insurgents, Find Weapons

27 Aug 2007
Afghan, Coalition Forces Destroy Taliban Heroin Lab
Iraq Operations Net 36 Terrorists, Kill Nine
Troops Kill, Capture Terrorists, Seize Weapons in ‘Lightning Hammer’

26 Aug 2007

Seven Iraqis Escape Makeshift Prison, 11 Terrorists Detained
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2007 - Seven Iraqi citizens found their way to a coalition patrol base near Khan Ban Sa’ad, Iraq, yesterday after escaping a makeshift prison, military officials reported.
Attacks Down, Economic Development Up in Iraq


08/24/2007

Commander Says Iraqi Citizens Turning Against Insurgents
Al Qaeda Disrupted During Operations in Iraq’s Tigris River Valley
Lightning Hammer Disrupts Terrorists in Iraq’s Diyala Province

You get the point.

Eco-Conscious

An email is making the rounds about the energy consumption and environmental impact of two houses. One belongs to Al "inconvenient" Gore. The other belongs to George W. (the chimp) Bushitler. One is 10,000 square feet, the other a mere 4,000. One uses 20 times the national average of energy, the other recycles water for irrigation and uses geothermal exchangers to heat and cool the property.

If you were a man-made global warming enthusiast, you would be shocked, shocked to learn that the energy guzzling home belongs to Al Gore and the eco-friendly abode belongs to George W. Bush. You would, no doubt, scream "fraud". So, allow me to point you to some references for a credibility check.
Truth or Fiction dot com.
Urban Legends.

Since Gore's house uses 20 times the national average of electricity (being only 4 times larger that the average house) and Bush's house uses about one-fourth of the energy, who is the champion of the environment?

Lies and the photos that show it.

Look at this photo from a Newsweek article on May 2:

The caption and the story indicate that these bodies were fishermen slain by insurgents. "Insurgents in another town near Baghdad, Haditha, responded by kidnapping 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen, lining them up against a wall in a sports stadium and shooting them dead. "

This picture was run with a story by the London Times, indicating that the people were slain by U.S. Marines. The Times has now removed the photo and added an apology.

"

The Times June 01, 2006 'Massacre Marines blinded by hate' From Tim Reid in Washington Corporal claims that his comrades, who were accused of killing Iraqi civilians, lost control

[Note: This story originally appeared with a picture of slain Iraqis whose caption erroneously described the scene as being related to the alleged incidents in al-Haditha. The image was in fact from a separate incident in the area in which Iraqi insurgents are believed to have massacred local fishermen. We apologise for the mistake.]

Probably, much like the case of Ilario Pantano, we will learn that the corporal had a hidden agenda. In the meantime, the false association of the images with the story will foment unrest and violence. Good going, mainstream media.

The Media Template

Occasionally it is good to remember how the exempt media journalists are (apparently) trained. It is quite simple, really.
IF remark=blatantly racist AND speaker=liberal THEN no harm, no foul. Explain it as a "mistake" and moveon.org.

IF remark=praise of a former racist AND speaker=conservative AND former racist=conservative THEN raise huge stink. Demand head of both speaker and recipient of praise. Any Democrat can praise Robert KKK "Sheets" Byrd. No Republican can praise Strom Thurmond.

IF country has been attacked AND president=Republican THEN war=Vietnam AND quagmire.

IF country has not been attacked AND president=Clinton THEN shooting missiles=great diplomacy.

IF member of White House staff is indicted for something AND charge is "serious" AND president=Republican THEN situation=Watergate OR Iran-Contra.

IF president is actually convicted of perjury and disbarred AND president=Clinton THEN situation=political axe-grinding by right-wing attack machine.

Recent examples of this are the Libby and DeLay indictments where the "seriousness of the charge" raises "grave questions about" the 'culture of corruption". Or the Abramoff fiasco where several prominent Democrats received money, but this is a "Republican" scandal.

And then there is Mayor Nagin who wants New Orleans to be rebuilt as a "chocolate" city. Both Scott Ott and Ann Coulter have a field day with it. But it is just par for the course.

Doublespeak

For those of you who have not read George Orwell's 1984, I urge you to do so.
Those of you who have will recognize the title of this post. The concept of Doublespeak is to say the exact opposite of what you mean. For example, in a "People's Republic of..." the people have little or no say about their lives. Rather, the state controls them. Or the old Russian standby Pravda, which means "truth", was the propaganda vehicle for the Communist Party.

Closer to home is the incantation "tolerance" used to ward off evil Christian symbols and holidays. Or "diversity" used to ensure homogenous thought at universities. Or "freedom of speech" used to demand an audience and a platform.

The exempt media wants to shut down bloggers because they have "no editorial oversight", yet bristle about their own freedoms when challenged, aka Dan Rather and memogate. Blogger AJStrata has some interesting thoughts about the media.

See some thoughts by the Anchoress, Kobayashi Maru and Sisu also. If we start a class-action lawsuit, I'm in.

No Liberal Bias at MSM

A new ABC poll has some interesting results, in spite of the spin put on it by ABC themselves. For a detailed analysis, see what Captain Ed has to say about it.

Wonder how long it will take for the Democrats to admit that their polling numbers were outright lies? Here are some actual results:

• 76 percent of Iraqis express confidence that this week's elections will produce a stable government
• 57 percent of Iraqis prefer democracy to either strongman rule or an Islamic state
• 99 percent of Iraqis support women voting or working as medical doctors
• 63 percent feel very safe in their own neighborhood, up sharply from an Oxford poll in June 2004
• This survey finds 10- to 13-point gains in ratings of local crime protection, security and medical care, as well as in the still-problematic areas of electric supply and jobs.

Update: The link to the poll results was broken. Fixed it.