This afternoon FNC anchors said that Murtha has passed away and that he was dearly beloved by Democrats, Republicans and independents alike. I’m not making that up. They went out of their way to mention each political group and to gush about how he was so loved.

We conservatives don’t want to dance on Murtha’s grave but we do want the record clear: he was not dearly beloved on the Right.

Why can’t we just keep our mouths shut and let him go in peace? Ask the Marines that fought at Haditha.

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 8 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., died Monday at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., officials said.

A statement issued by lawmaker’s office said Murtha, 77, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, died with his family at his bedside.

The powerful lawmaker had been hospitalized due to complications from gall bladder removal surgery he underwent Jan. 28, only three days after becoming the longest serving representative in Pennsylvania history.

An unidentified source close to the U.S. representative told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that during Murtha’s laparoscopic surgery, a portion of the politician’s intestine was cut.

Continued….

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Yes, He did it! Even if no health care bill comes out of Congress before Election 2010, Republicans have handed Obama victory.

In the last week He converted defeat into victory by simply pretending, with the GOP’s implicit acceptance, that the last year of wasted effort by Congress to cram socialized medicine down our throats never happened.

First, he went before a Republican “retreat” and bitch-slapped, insulted, affronted, dissed and generally chewed Republican asses for voting against the Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care bills. Never, in all my days, have I observed such a talking-down, yet the Repuglican piles of shit sat there and took it without a peep, either while they were being dressed down like 3-year olds, or later when they could have responded to his arrogance without appearing rude to the POTUS.

Second, he sat back and waited for the MSM to play-up the ass chewing as statesmanship, which they dutiful did, and now He is receiving huge bonuses: one after another traditional conservative publications and conservative blogs are swallowing his bullshit hook, line and sinker. By this morning, it’s fait accompli that the sorry Washington GOP pansy asses will meet with their new found buddy on Feb. 25th and save His miserable ass from Himself.

President Barack Obama is planning to host a televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on health care reform.

The Feb. 25 meeting is an attempt to reach across the aisle but not a signal that the president plans to start over, as Republicans have demanded, a White House official said.

“I want to come back [after the Presidents Day congressional recess] and have a large meeting — Republicans and Democrats — to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Obama said in an interview with Katie Couric during CBS’s Super Bowl pre-game show Sunday.

Obama said he wants to “look at the Republican ideas that are out there.”

Read more….

Whaaa? Look at Republican ideas…? After a frigging year of plastering all over TV and front pages that Republicans have no ideas?

Besides, am I the only one to notice that Repuglicans have agreed to a negotiating ploy that is absolutely forbidden in such dialogue? The sorry sacks of shit allowed Obama to set the ground rule that He will not start over, but Republicans obviously have agreed that the meeting will start with His premise that there will be a single payer, which is, euphemistically speaking, government run health care and health insurance.

Oh no, you say. There’s no premise that we will have government run health care and health insurance. No shit, Dick Tracy. How come the publicity says The O has refused to agree to start over, but there’s no mention of ANY GOP demand. Huh?

To recast a famous general’s remarks, where do we conservatives get such cockerroaches?

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YouTube: “In the sky over central Florida captured one of the darkest moments in American space exploration the explosion of the shuttle Challenger.”

Via Rick @ Wizbang: “The video was shot by an optometrist named Jack Moss from the back garden of his home in Winter Haven Florida. It is moving, stirring and fascinating to witness the event from his (BETA) video camera and to note that Jack Moss and his wife and neighbor weren’t quite sure what had transpired before their eyes. As you can tell from the video, they were excited, then perplexed, then shocked and horrified. I’m sure that we can all relate.”

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Tim Geithner utters the most incredibly stupid remark I’ve ever heard from a Washington politician, and that’s quite a feat when one considers that stupid has Joe Biden on its side.

Mark Tapscott — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is reassuring Americans that the huge deficits and spiralling nationa[l] debt “will never” damage the country’s sterling credit rating because investors will continue to view the U.S. as a good investment.

And in other news, Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus reassured his citizens that they should not worry about those hordes of barbarians gathering outside the city.

Rome is too big to fail, so they will never invade Rome,” the Emperor said. “Besides, if they were to sack Rome, where would they go for our fine entertainments, including the orgies, drama productions with real executions, and, let’s not forget, our incomparable gladitorial [sic] contests in the Coliseum.”

German barbarian leader Odoacer was asked for comment, but would only say through a spokesman that he would soon confer in person with the Emperor about his future status.

Source

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What a nice guy!

• Robin of Berkeley: “Is Obama a Narcissist?”
• Terminally ill sentenced to premature death in UK’s NHS”
• Rights versus Wants

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Yesterday in Nashville, Tenn. Sarah Palin addressed the “first national convention” of the dissilient Tea Party coalition.

GOP/conservative haters, like the AP, were on hand in force and wasted little time putting a spin on events. USA Today’s version of the AP dispatch said:

Filled with Palin’s trademark folksy jokes, the speech amounted to a 45-minute pep talk for the coalition and promotion of its principles. The speech also was rife with criticism for Obama and Democrats who control Congress. But, aside from broad conservative principles like lower taxes and a strong national defense, it was short on her own policy ideas that typically indicate someone is seriously laying the ground work to run for the White House.

“[A] 45-minute pep talk?” … “[S]hort on her own policy ideas?” Does the AP actually think Obama speeches have meat?

The Greenville News [S.C.] ran an AP dispatch with Liz Sidoti’s byline:

Her fee was $100,000 for the appearance at the for-profit event.

Hm. No mention that Palin had previously announced she would donate the $100,000 to charity.

OK. So the supercilious reporters got in their licks but all-in-all not too bad considering the source. I read several versions of the story from the wire services and all of them seemed to confirmed my recent feelings that the MSM might be easing up in its criticism of the Right.

Or is it?

The most conspicuous part of the story to me is what wasn’t mentioned by the AP or any of the vast leftwing network of GOP/conservative bashers. Unmentioned is the Left’s recent recognition of the Tea Party as a legitimate movement as well as the obvious factoid that the Tea Party may be in the process of acquiring a new partner: the legacy media.

Why has the MSM suddenly discovered that tea baggers are not what the Obama White House, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi first described? Can voters remember that far back? It was in those olden days of six months ago that Tea Party activists were described as gangs of brown-shirt Nazis dispatched by rightwing conspirators to disrupt Democrat town hall meetings.

Now look at how the MSM curried favor at the gathering in Nashville.

Could it be that the Left and its MSM partners suddenly realized that Tea Party movers and shakers are being co-opted by Sarah Palin, John McCain and other RINOs and assimilated under a new tent? If that’s true, the result could be very useful to the Left this November.

A “new tent” stirs old memories from not too long ago when Ross Perot single-handily elected Bill Clinton by leading the charge in 1992 to defeat Bush 41. I wasn’t too pleased with 41’s performance after the Gulf War, but he would’ve been infinitely better than Bubba.

If the MSM is stealthily helping form a third-party coalition now, it’s a scenario that could help Obama, Reid, Pelosi, et al, stay in power beyond 2012. An anti-Democrat, anti-GOP coalition — like the McCain-Palin effort — will most effectively work against the GOP and, conversely, help Democrats.

More Palin revolution:

Catering to her crowd, Palin talked of limited government, strict adherence to the Constitution, and the “God-given right” of freedom. She said the “fresh, young and fragile” movement is the future of American politics because it’s “a ground-up call to action” to both major political parties to change how they do business.

“America is ready for another revolution!” she told the gathering.

Contrary to MSM-John McCain-Sarah Palin agitprop, honesty and pragmatism are not mutually exclusive.

Related
Gary Gross: Sarah Palin’s Tour de Force Speech

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A friend sent this list and it’s a fine tribute to the best president of my lifetime which began with FDR.

• “The Speech” …

• On the specter of socialism and socialized medicine (how timely today) …

• The humor of the man …

• Reagan never apologized for America’s over-arching determination to advance the cause of freedom and personal liberty …

• The President’s Eloquent Tribute to the Challenger Astronauts …

• The Boys of Pointe du Hoc (our current Commander-In-Chief cannot even pronounce “Corpsman” correctly) ..

• Ronald Reagan’s Funeral …

• His Final Journey …

• A Tribute …

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Scroll down for UPDATE

I know not what course others may take; but as for me, I’m throwing Sarah Palin under the bus. She seems to belong there with John McCain and other RINOs that have become a constant pain to conservatives.

Unless, of course, Palin can convince me she’s just building a war chest of I.O.U.s for Election 2012. But then I would need to understand why such tactics are necessary. We all know there are more acceptable ways to achieve the same result.

All I know at this time is I’m not alone in my feelings of disgust over her recent political conduct.

Via Michelle Malkin:

Red Flag Number One: A reader from Arizona informed me the day after the Bay State Bombshell that he had received a robo-call from Massachusetts GOP Sen.-elect Scott Brown. “He basically wanted me to vote for John McCain in November,” the reader said in his description of the automated campaign call supporting the four-term Sen. McCain’s re-election bid. “No wonder [Brown] said he hadn’t had any sleep….he was busy recording phone messages!”

Red Flag Number Two: Also in the wake of the Massachusetts special election, the nation’s most popular conservative political figure, Sarah Palin, announced she would be campaigning for her former running mate in Arizona in March. Palin told Facebook followers that she’s going to “ride the tide with commonsense candidates” and help “heroes and statesmen” like McCain. Facing mounting conservative opposition in his home state and polls showing him virtually tied with possible GOP challenger and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, McCain welcomed the boost: “Sarah energized our nation and remains a leading voice in the Republican Party.”

Read the whole thing….

Related:
• Is Sarah Palin As Bad As John McCain?
• RINOs that get Palin money.

UPDATE:
• Did Sarah Palin Pull a Play out of Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson’s Playbook?

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A few days ago (at PJM) Roger Kimball suggested a New Contract with America for Election 2010. It’s a good idea but I can’t fully agree with all elements of the new plan. I recommend reading the whole thing (link below) but I have added my own thoughts to improve Roger’s mentations.

2010 Contract with America

1. The Waste, Fraud and Abuse Act: Select an independent council from the private sector to identify waste, fraud and abuse in government and major national accounting firms to conduct comprehensive audits of all Federal Government spending. Government employees who identify savings receive a bonus.

   The council must be staffed ONLY with people who have a history of fighting against government spending.

2. The Balanced Budget Act: An Amendment to the Constitution that would require a balanced budget within 5 years (including a 50% reduction in the first year), and provide the President with a line-item veto subject to Congressional override. The balanced budget would be in accordance with GAAP.

   NO Constitutional Amendment for a balanced budget. It would be too dangerous in times of national emergency. Also, a line-item veto only in the sense that it would return the entire bill to Congress and require approval of both houses within 10 days. If Congress fails to act within 10 days, the line-item veto would be treated the same as a veto of the entire bill. The idea of forcing a balanced budget can be achieved via a Constitutional Amendment requiring a super-majority approval (i.e., 60% in both houses) of spending in excess of federal revenue.

3. The Bi-Partisan Social Security Act: An act that forms a bi-partisan commission to change Social Security into a program that would balance income and payouts so that it was actuarially neutral. This would entail reducing benefits for the truly wealthy, increasing the minimum age for qualification, and allowing private companies to compete with the existing Social Security program.

   I’m on SS so you might think I would object but I fully agree with this, word for word.

4. The Bi-Partisan Medicare/ Medical Drug Act: An act that forms a bi-partisan commission to change Medicare and Medical Drugs into a program that would become actuarially neutral, and allow private company competition. This would probably include partial self-payment for most medical activities, upfront information on charges by health providers, and reasonable limits on “pain and suffering” awards for medical claims.

   I agree with most of this, but I would re-word it to highly emphasize full tort reform of medical mal-practice. Reform must include strict limits on the size and purpose of mal-practice awards.

5. The Bi-Partisan Medicaid Act: An act that forms a bi-partisan commission to change Medicaid into a program that would become more fiscally responsible; and encourage and allow private foundations and charities to fulfill these functions. The Federal Government would be obligated to pay for all current mandates and not impose future unfunded mandates on the states.

   Good!

6. The Congress Responsibility Act: All laws that apply to the rest of the country apply to Congress; require committee meetings to be public; replace special pensions for Congress with Social Security; no pay raises for Congress until the budget is balanced. Congress must self-complete their tax returns without professional help.

   Here is where I would fully support a Constitutional Amendment and it would include all the points above. I would slightly modify the pay raise provision to say that Congress could only grant member raises in the year after a balanced budget was achieved, votes on raises must take place between 10:00am and 4:00pm while C-SPAN is broadcasting the proceedings and all votes must be by roll call.

7. The Term-Limit Act: An Amendment to the Constitution that would impose term limits on members of the US Congress (House: four terms. Senate: two terms).

   I would also repeal the 17^th Amendment and cut terms for Senators from six to three years.

8. The Transparency Act: All acts passed by Congress must address a single subject. No add-ons or earmarks. Nothing that is clearly unrelated to the issue at hand. No Act voted on for passage could be longer than 20 pages (8 ½ x 11 inch pages at 10 pica).

   I especially like this idea but I would go further. Congress has been in business long enough that we could freeze the number of laws to the current level. Ergo, I would think it prudent to require Congress to only enact a new law if another law is canceled.

9. The Tax Limitation Act: requires a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase, and extends the 2001 tax rates indefinitely.

   This would require a Constitutional Amendment. The current Congress can’t restrict the Constitutional duties of a future Congress. I would heartily support a CA.

10. The Tenth Amendment Confirmation Act: An act that would restate and prevent further erosion of the Constitution’s principle of federalism to confirm that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people.

    Hear, hear!

Read the whole thing….

Any other views?

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Victor the Contractor @ Doug Ross:

… The U. S. government is the owner of the means of production of two once-omnipotent automobile companies. General Motors and Chrysler are on a form of welfare that negates the need for profit. The new mission for these businesses is to ‘park’ all of those union workers who were instrumental in bankrupting the companies in the first place. They vote in large numbers, and Democrat at that, so it is paramount for the White House to maintain this new welfare class. A crisis like a foreign car maker in trouble is like a gift horse for the administration. It can beat the drum to buy American. Never mind that American cars are really assemblages of the same foreign auto parts the other manufacturers use to construct similar models. And please ignore that the sales Toyota has lost are likely being subsumed by Ford, whose products are in sufficient demand that it has not required a bailout. Chrysler and G.M. continue to hemorrhage market share and will remain in that situation as long as consumers perceive their products as substandard.

But there is a second reason to focus a the public eye like a laser on the Toyota at the expense of other stories. And this one is so much more serious than the support of an unworthy business or two. The White House wants to distract the American people from more important issues like the growing debt, subversion of the Constitution and the growing problems with Iran.

Read the whole thing….

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