Rawhide Down: 30 years later

30 years ago yesterday President Ronald "Rawhide" Reagan was shot. His words in the aftermath of the shooting are just another reason he is globally loved.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/rawhide-down-30-years-later/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

A New Definition Of Courage

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, the world has witnessed the remarkable strength and fortitude of the Japanese people. While other nations experience looting, rioting, and the full spectrum of criminal behavior whenever a disaster (man-made or natural) occurs. Not so with the nation of Japan.  Politeness, sharing and the concept of community embodies this nation's soul.  No where in Japan this is unquestionable than with the 50 men who have volunteered to stay at the doomed nuclear facility at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News.

The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online.

Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation.

“He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term.”

The woman spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity because, she said, plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize public panic.

She could not confirm if her son or other workers were already suffering from radiation sickness. But she added: “They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.”

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (or TEPCO), says medical teams conduct regular testing on the restoration workers for signs of contamination-related illness. It claims there have been no further cases following the three workers who were treated last week after coming into direct contact with radioactive water. There are no reports of new members of the Fukushima 50 developing radiation sickness.

Although two suffered radiation burns to their legs and ankles and absorbed radiation internally, they have since been released from the hospital and are regularly being checked for signs of any deterioration in their condition, says TEPCO.

The company has pledged to improve the tough conditions for workers who stay on the site due to the short turnaround of shifts on safety grounds.

Some restorers directly tackling the problems with the fuel rod containment chambers are limited to 15 minutes at a time inside the reactor buildings or working near highly radioactive substances, including traces of plutonium that have appeared at numerous locations within the plant complex.

Living conditions for the hundreds of employees staying within the plant’s perimeter to support the restoration efforts are also equally as hazardous, say the authorities.

Banri Kaieda, the interior minister who also acts as a deputy head of the nuclear disaster task force jointly set up by the government and TEPCO, said 500 to 600 people were at one point lodging in a building within the complex. He told a media conference it was “not a situation in which minimum sleep and food could be ensured.”

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says that workers were only eating two basic meals of crackers and dried rice a day, and sleeping in conference rooms and hallways in the building.

According to Kaieda, not all of the workers had apparently been provided with lead sheeting to shield themselves from potentially radiation-contaminated floors while sleeping.

“My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor. But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him,” said the mother of the worker who spoke to Fox News.

Full Story

True Bravery knows no skin color, no one faith, no one nation.  It comes from the depths of one's soul, stirred by conviction and nourished by one's conscience.

Dr. Masaru Emoto released this statement:

To All People Around the World,

Please send your prayers of love and gratitude to water at the nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan.

By the massive earthquakes of Magnitude 9 and surreal massive tsunamis, more than 10,000 people are still missing. It has been 16 days already since the disaster happened. What makes it worse is that water at the reactors of Fukushima Nuclear Plants started to leak, and it's contaminating the ocean, air and water molecules of the surrounding areas.

Human wisdom has not been able to do much to solve the problem, but we are only trying to cool down the anger of radioactive materials in the reactors by discharging water to them.

Is there really nothing else to do?

I think there is. During over twenty year research of hado measuring and water crystal photographic technology, I have been witnessing that water can turn positive when it receives pure vibration of human prayer no matter how far away it is.

The energy formula of Albert Einstein, E=MC2 really means that Energy = number of people and the square of people's consciousness.

Now is the time to understand the true meaning. Let us all join the prayer ceremony as fellow citizens of the planet earth.

I would like to ask all people, not just in Japan, but all around the world to please help us to find a way out the crisis of this planet

The Fukushima 50 will all certainly die of Radiation Sickness from their heroic efforts. Let us all pray that their sacrifice will not be in vain.  That they will be able to do the impossible, and stop this disaster from destroying a good chunk of Northern Japan.

"Operation Purple" Camps application time NOW

Operation Purple Program

When you hear "Operation Purple camp" you should think: Kids Serve Too! The National Military Family Association's Operation Purple camps are a time for having fun, making friends, and reminding military kids that they are the Nation's youngest heroes.

The Operation Purple program was created in 2004 in response to parent’s call to "help us help our kids." The mission of the Operation Purple program is to empower military children and their families to develop and maintain healthy and connected relationships, in spite of the current military environment. We do this through a variety of means, including the healing and holistic aspect of the natural world. The program is joint or "purple"— and open to children and families of active duty, National Guard or Reserve service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service and NOAA.

In the 2004 Operation Purple pilot season, the National Military Family Association started with 12 camp locations serving close to 1,000 children. Since then the Operation Purple program has grown and expanded and by summer's end close to 45,000 military children and teens will have been served. The Operation Purple program also includes camps for teens, family retreats at the national parks, and camps geared to address the needs of children and families of our nations wounded service members.

Donations for Operation Purple camps are now supporting our 2012 program. Please direct donation questions to donations@militaryfamily.org.

Please direct questions regarding the Operation Purple program to OPC@militaryfamily.org.

2011 Operation Purple camp applications are now available.

Find a location near you and apply today.

Because the children ALSO serve.

[*cross-posted from WOTN*]

Budget Battle: Tea Party The Willing Cudgel Used To Beat Democrats Over The Head

Here are some facts that everyone knows but recent budget battle talks and disagreements overshadow.

Fact One: Republicans only control one third of the Government. Democrats control two-thirds of the Government

Fact Two: Republicans control the House of Representatives. Democrats control the U.S. Senate and the White House.

Tea Party members, for all the talk about them, understand this. They are willing to be used as the cudgel that beats Democrats over the head over and over again. They allow this because they are actively involved in the political process and understand the talk about good cop, insane cop, can be used heavily in favor of cleaning up our fiscal mess, one billion at a time.

Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden take note of what this means. Democrats are now ready to cut $30 billion below 2010 levels for the 2011 budget. That was the Republican leadership’s initial offer, basically a pro-rated version of their $100 billion in cuts from the Obama 2011 budget request. They went further to the right after losing the tea party conservatives and then sought $100 billion overall from that budget request, or in real dollars a $61 billion reduction. So here come the Democrats, offering the $30 billion in cuts that the Republican leadership wanted in the first place.

Look at the budget battle continuing on the Hill at the moment.

Despite controlling two thirds of the Government, Democrats have been forced to concede time and time again because they understand the Republicans owe the Tea Party. They owe them because the GOP made promises during their campaigns and the Tea Party has every right to expect, demand even, those promises be kept to the best of the GOP's ability.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Caving in: If the current Washington fight over spending was a game of chicken, the Obama White House would already be pulled over on the side of the road, as House Republicans continue to barrel down the deserted highway. The fact is, the White House and Senate Democrats keep caving, while House Republicans -- at least publicly -- have yet to budge an inch. The latest development, as Politico reports, is that the administration has agreed to an overall cut of $33 billion, which is near the number that the House leadership originally proposed (before the Tea Party caucus forced it to go higher). And now the White House appears to be backing away from its demand that no riders be attached to the deal. Press Secretary Jay Carney said there is no veto threat from the White House on a deal that contains ANY riders, as was originally the position. And here’s what Vice President Biden said on the matter yesterday: “The president and I are not really big on any riders at all. But this is a process which is normal for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to get into the details. We’ve made it clear what we think are non-starters, both in numbers and riders. But I’m not going to go -- I’m not going to negotiate out here.”

Media outlet after media outlet as well as Democratic leaders [Reid] continue to cry out "The Republicans are scared of the Tea Party".

I beg to differ.

Republicans are not scared of the Tea Party, Republicans love the Tea Party.

Republicans that are serious about spending cuts and understand that America continues to spend more money than it has, also understand the Tea Party is the best friend they have and the best weapon against Democrats that wish to continue spending more money than we have.

I suspect there will be no government shutdown. A budget deal will be made, Republicans fighting tooth and nail for each and every spending cut made, publicly. Democrats fighting against each and every spending cut, just as publicly.

The Tea Party will say it is not enough. Republicans will point to Democrats, reminding folks that Democrats control two-thirds of the government and say that's why they couldn't get more spending cuts.

Translation to Tea Party- 2012 elections.

The Tea Party and the GOP are tag teaming the out-of-control, spend-more-than-we-have Democrats and they are doing it brilliantly.

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Thanking The Koch Brothers: Union VP Explains Why Boycotting Koch Industries Is Moronic

Interspersing complaints and whining about David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch's political agenda with facts of what Koch industries does for workers and the good they do for America, International Vice President at United Steelworkers, Jon Geenen explains why the recent calls for boycotting Koch's businesses is a very bad idea.

Before addressing the idiocy of Geenen's political arguments, lets highlight his admittance that the Koch family is the prime example of what America needs today.

A number of organizations are advocating a boycott of the products that come from companies owned by the Koch family. This is problematic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it could potentially hurt the wrong people.

The Koch brothers own Georgia Pacific. It is an American consumer goods company that makes everyday products like facial tissue, napkins, paper towels, paper cups and the like. Their plants are great examples of American advanced manufacturing. Incidentally,

GP makes most of its products here in America. The company’s workforce is highly unionized. In fact, 80 percent of its mills are under contract with one or more labor union. It is not inaccurate to say that these are among the best-paid manufacturing jobs in America.

This presents a dilemma and a paradox. While the Koch brothers are credited with advocating an agenda and groups that are clearly hostile to labor and labor’s agenda, the brothers’ company in practice and in general has positive and productive collective bargaining relationships with its unions.

While some companies are running from investment in American jobs, The Koch brothers’ Georgia Pacific just reached agreements with its primary union in the paper industry to invest more than a half a billion dollars in capital to essentially create two state-of-the-art machines that conserve fiber and energy at two separate union mills.

Emphasis mine.

Koch Industries advances American jobs and American manufacturing. Two things this country is in dire need of.

A look at their subsidiaries across various industries gives a good indication of how many jobs the Koch brothers provide in the United States:

* Georgia-Pacific paper and pulp company, maker of "Brawny" paper towels, "Angel Soft" toilet paper, "Mardi Gras" napkins and towels, "Quilted Northern" toilet paper and paper towels, "Dixie" paper plates, bowls, napkins and cups, "Sparkle" paper towels, and "Vanity Fair" paper napkins, bowls, plates and tablecloths. The Atlanta-based company has operations in 27 states.

* Invista, a polymer and fibers company that makes "Stainmaster" carpet, and "Lycra" fiber, among other products.

* Koch Pipeline Company LP, which owns and operates 4,000 miles of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Its pipelines are located across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Alberta, Canada. The firm operates offices in Wichita, Kansas, St. Paul, Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas.

* Flint Hill Resources LP, is a major refining and chemicals company based in Wichita, Kansas. It sells products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, polymers, intermediate chemicals, base oils and asphalt. It operates oil refineries in six states. Flint Hill has chemical plants in Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The firm is also a major manufacturer of asphalt used for paving and roofing applications. It operates 13 asphalt terminals located in six states including Alaska (2 terminals), Wisconsin (2), Iowa (3), Minnesota (4), Nebraska (1), and North Dakota(1). The firm manages the purchasing of domestic crude oil from Texas and Colorado offices, has four ethanol plants across Iowa, operates three refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and has a refinery terminal in Alaska. It also operates fuel terminals in Wisconsin (4 locations), Texas (6), and one each in Iowa and Minnesota.

* Koch Fertilizer, LLC, which is one of the world’s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers. Koch Fertilizer owns or has interests in fertilizer plants the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Italy, among others.In October 2010, a plant in Venezuela was nationalized by the government.

* Koch Agricultural Company's Matador Cattle Company division operates three ranches totaling 425,000 acres located in Beaverhead, Montana, Matador, Texas and the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. There are more than 15,000 head of cattle raised on the ranches. (Source)

Geenen's complaints stem from the fact that the Kochs have money and choose to use it to advance a political agenda they happen to believe in.

OMG, what a crime!!!

By now anyone who had not yet heard of the Koch brothers has been introduced to them. Every major newspaper and magazine has run an article about the brothers who until recently lived largely under the radar while advancing a political vision via political action committees and think tanks funded by their fortunes.

Key words there... Their fortunes.

If consumers pick alternate products (because people will still use toilet paper), in many cases, the substitute will be from a company with a track record that is much less friendly to the values of the workers who would, as a result of the boycott, become the collateral damage. The Koch brothers’ lifestyle will not dramatically change; there are no shareholders that will become concerned; the company is privately owned. The stock won’t plummet either — there is none.

Emphasis, again, mine.

So, we have established Koch Industries employs masses, manufactures and provides jobs right here in America, continues to expand their vast holdings, wealth and businesses and American workers, even union workers are benefiting.

I repeat- Geenen's complaint seems to be that the Koch brothers use their fortune to help advance their own political beliefs.

To be sure, I personally have grave concerns about the agenda and influence being wielded by private wealth into our political system. Who doesn’t? I too agree that the Koch brothers are an ideal example of a very broken system. They undoubtedly know that many see them as pariahs, and undoubtedly they don’t care — no more than I care if someone attaches a label to me for my political views.

Who doesn't?

*raises hand here*

I don't.

If a person has money and chooses to fund organizations, think tanks, political action groups or anything their heart desires in order to help a cause or agenda they believe in, as long as they aren't receiving tax payer money and/or bailouts from our government, and it is their own money they are spending... more power to them.

Liberal or conservative. I don't really give a damn. It is their money, they can use it the way they want to and should be applauded for doing so. Applauded for being willing to put their money where their mouths are.

Amazingly enough, the hypocrites on the left do not complain when it is a liberal billionaire donating and working toward furthering liberal goals, example George Soros, just to name one in a long list.

No, they complain and actively work against anyone that dares spend their own money to further goals more aligned with conservatism.

Liberal billionaires that use the system to help liberal politicians are icons and idolized in progressives' minds, but the conservative wealthy that do the same are some sort of monsters because those goals do not match the ideology of a liberal.

I, for one, would like to thank David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch for providing and creating jobs right here in America. I would like to thank them for continuing to manufacture products here in America. I would like to thank them for using their considerable fortune to help further a conservative agenda that I believe is good for America.

H/T allahpundit@Twitter

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Freshman House GOP Members To Harry Reid: 'your record on spending in the Senate is one of failure '

On top Speaker of the House, John Boehners public statement to Senate Democrats telling them if they really have a budget plan to they should “pass the damn thing” and stop “rooting for a government shutdown,” (Video here) now we have 30 (so far) freshman GOP House members sending Harry Reid a letter telling him "Mr. Reid, your record on spending in the Senate is one of failure."

Mr. Reid,

We the undersigned call on you and the Senate to pass a long-term Continuing Resolution; a resolution that hears the calls of the American people and makes reasonable, responsible spending cuts.

Mr. Reid, your record on spending in the Senate is one of failure. You have failed to pass a budget, failed to restrain spending, and failed to put our country on sound fiscal footing.

We do not accept your failure as our own.

The American people did not send us here to fail. Make no mistake: any government shutdown is the result of your lack of leadership. America has a $14 trillion debt and you offered a mere $6 billion in cuts. The House heard the calls of the American people and offered $61 billion in cuts, but the Senate has not sent us a Continuing Resolution in return.

We have received nothing from the Senate except denials of the dire straits of our nation’s fiscal health.

The House of Representatives is accomplishing what we were elected to do. We’ve cut spending. We’ve terminated wasteful programs. We’ve funded the government.

Mr. Reid, we are letting you know that we will rally on the Senate steps every day until you pass a long-term Continuing Resolution. We call on all Americans to join our fight in restoring our country’s fiscal health.

The House of Representatives is doing our job, Mr. Reid. The Senate needs to start doing theirs.

Mr. Reid, it’s time to pass a bill.

Bound together and determined,

[Signatures]

Ouch.

Speaker Of The HouseTo Democrats: If You Have A Plan, 'Pass The Damn Thing' And 'Stop Rooting For A Government Shutdown'

Video below:



Video lifted from NRO who provides it in an update:

UPDATE: Video of House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) from Wednesday morning’s press conference. If Senate Democrats really have a plan, he says, they should “pass the damn thing” and stop “rooting for a government shutdown.”

The budget battle continues....

[Update] Freshman House GOP Members in a letter to Harry Reid: 'your record on spending in the Senate is one of failure '

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Khadafi, Bob Herbert, and Detroit

Moammar Khadafi of Libya and Bob Herbert of the Jayson Blair Times are both bullies. As punishment, they should spend their final years in exile. Send them to Detroit!

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/khadafi-bob-herbert-and-detroit/

In San Bernardino tonight as part of Rick Amato's pre-tax day rally.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Obama's Job Approval And Reelect Score Continues To Drop

Quinnipiac University provides the latest numbers and they continue to move downward after a slight reprieve from the midterm elections.

American voters disapprove 48 - 42 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing and say 50 - 41 percent he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012, both all-time lows, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 46 - 46 percent job approval rating and a 45 - 47 percent split on the President's re-election in a March 3 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. In a hypothetical 2012 matchup, President Obama gets 36 percent of the vote to 37 percent for an unnamed Republican challenger.

Democrats approve 80 - 13 percent of the job Obama is doing, but disapproval is 81 - 9 percent among Republicans and 50 - 39 percent among independent voters. Men disapprove 52 - 41 percent while women split 44 - 44 percent.

Quinnipiac isn't the only polling organization providing numbers that should disturb Barack Obama either.

Gallup provides it's own set of figures and while the numbers do not appear as bad as Quinnipiac's did, the pattern Gallup shows is probably even worse news for Obama than what is shown above.

Americans have grown increasingly less likely to view President Obama as a strong and decisive leader since he took office. Roughly half now believe this aptly describes, him compared with 60% a year ago and 73% in April 2009.

When the trend is looked at by Gallup, this is what they find:

Altogether, Obama's ratings on being a strong and decisive leader are down a total of 21 percentage points since taking office, compared with a 15-point decline on understanding Americans' daily problems and a 9-point decline in sharing their values. Obama's overall job approval rating declined 16 points over the same time period.

I've often said that polls change on a dime, they bounce as the news cycle runs from story to story, they drop just as easily and fast, but polls are excellent indicators of patterns and trends and the patterns being seen for Barack Obama canot be spun in any favorable light.

The longer he is president, with each and every crisis, every political showdown, every foreign policy decision, Obama continues to drop in each important category among all demographics and while the drop in numbers from his Democratic supporters are smaller than the drop among Independents and Republicans, the drop is still there and continuing to spiral downward.

Today the media will claim the recent drop stems from Obama's decisions on Libya, before that it was his handling of the budget, before that the tax issue, etc....

Media will always provide an easy scapegoat and excuses for the bad polling numbers of the moment, but rarely do they address the pattern being seen and what it means to Obama's reelection chances as well the overall discontent American voters are beginning to express about Barack Obama.



Patterns don't lie and these patterns leave the door wide open for a strong GOP presidential candidate to win in the 2012 presidential election and make Obama a one term president.

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Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day - THANK YOU!

Today is officially Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. As usual, our governments have been very slow to recognise the service of our Vietnam Veteran heroes. As is now very well known, our Vietnam Veterans were treated very shabbily, and that treatment is one of the reasons I do what I do in my small corner of Bratville. The way our Vietnam Veterans were/are treated gave me a mantra: NOT ON MY WATCH.




Many years ago, ( long before I was 'trained' as a journalist, lol) I wrote a column which I called Good Morning, Sunset Beach. At the time of writing, I submitted it to media around the world. Quelle surprise, not one outlet used it. I have since shared it with a couple of Vietnam Veterans over the years.

Today seems a good day to share excerpts here:

“Goooood Morning, Sunset Beach”

6a.m. clear, calm, not a ripple on the water. A blue heron stands serenely on the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. Is he oblivious to the Wall a few yards away? THIS is a replica of the Wall in Washington remembering, honoring all the husbands, sons, brothers and lovers who fought, and died, in a country I had never heard of until 1973. 1973 – the year I traveled to the U.S. from a small European country and saw, for the first time, men dying right in the living rooms of the good old U.S of A. As a young single girl, I had no point of reference to the dying and the accompanying political screaming. I had never seen such angry people as those I saw now, in small town America, screaming against the Vietnam War.

What war?...

Yes, there is more - here.

Charles Schumer, Democrat: 'Caucus Instructed Me' To Use Word Extreme In Regards To Republicans

The next time you hear a Democratic Politician refer to a Republican politician as "extreme", remember the Democratic caucus gave strict instructions for that particular talking point and never let it be said that Democrats think for themselves, noooooo, they simply do as "instructed."

NYT:

Um, Senators, ever heard of the mute button?

Moments before a conference call with reporters was scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning, apparently unaware that many of the reporters were already on the line, Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, began to instruct fellow senators on how to talk to reporters about the contentious budget process.

After thanking his colleagues — Barbara Boxer of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Tom Carper of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — for doing the budget bidding for the Senate Democrats, who are facing off against the House Republicans over how spending for the rest of the fiscal year, Mr. Schumer told them to portray John Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the House, as painted into a box by the Tea Party, and to decry the spending cuts that he wants as extreme. “I always use the word extreme,” Mr. Schumer said, “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”

A minute or two into the talking-points tutorial, though, someone apparently figured out that reporters were listening, and silence fell.

Then the conference call began in earnest, with the Democrats right on message.

Stupidity watch just gets easier and easier.

I can't decide what is more stupid though, not realizing their conversation was being heard or obeying the commands of a leadership that cost the party the largest losses in over 70 years last election.

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People Running From Liberal Welfare States

Must read piece at RCP called "Voting With Their Feet"

Teaser:

The latest published data from the 2010 census show how people are moving from place to place within the United States. In general, people are voting with their feet against places where the liberal, welfare-state policies favored by the intelligentsia are most deeply entrenched.

When you break it down by race and ethnicity, it is all too painfully clear what is happening. Both whites and blacks are leaving California, the poster state for the liberal, welfare-state and nanny-state philosophy.

Read the entire thing.

Then follow up by reading the NYT article titled "Many U.S. Blacks Moving to South, Reversing Trend."

Politicians lie. Pundits interpret information according to their own ideology.

Numbers don't lie.

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Wisconsin State Stops Collecting Union Dues- To The Courts They All Go

Quick background, although if were interested enough to click the link, you know the basics, so I will make this short.

Governor Scott Walker proposed a budget repair bill for Wisconsin who is in the red, in that bill Public Employee Unions would no longer be able to have the state collecting their dues for them to be handed over, public employees would have to contribute more towards their health and pensions, but less than regular employees have to contribute.

Democratic politicians who are in the minority ran away from home to prevent passage of the bill, Unions protested, everything came to a standstill until Republicans stripped out appropriations from the bill so they no longer need a quorum just a majority and passed the bill, so did the House and the Governor signed it.

To the courts they all went. Opponents to stop the new law from being implemented, Proponents to argue the law was passed legally. Initially a judge ordered specific players not publish the law, so the Legislative Reference Bureau published it instead (They were not named in the order).

Today both sides go to court as announcements come out that as of Sunday, the state will stop collecting Union dues on behalf of the Unions and the employees will be having the new charges for their health and pension benefits taken out.

Not being an attorney I will leave the explanation to Associate Clinical Professor at Cornell Law School, William A. Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection:

Critics of Gov. Walker's move cite an opinion from the Legislative Council, essentially the staff attorneys at the Wisconsin legislature, who opine that the bill has not yet become law.

As pointed out by Kevin Binversie at Lakeshore Laments, it is quite ironic for opponents of the bill to rely on the opinions of the Legislative Council, since it was the Legislative Council which also opined that the actions of the Republican state Senators in passing the bill complied with Senate Rules.

If the Legislative Council was right that the bill passage complied with Senate Rules, and since legislative Rules trump the Open Meetings Law, then the bill should survive court challenges and there should be no injunction, temporary or otherwise.

Tomorrow will be interesting, as Judge Sumi grapples with the mess created by a precipitous Temporary Restraining Order.

With the law now in effect and paychecks getting an increase since union dues are not being withheld, Democrats are the party arguing for a reduction in state worker paychecks.

There are a couple Twitter members following this closely and reporting from the courtroom, one of which is News Reporter for WISC-TV in Madison, WI, Jessica Arp, and you can keep updated on where things are going in the courtroom at her Twitter feed.

More to come I am sure....

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Mr. Obama's war in Libya

Mr. Obama will have blood on his hands if Khadafi sets the oil fields on fire and massacres thousands of his own citizens. Regime change in Libya is the only solution, and George W. Bush understood this.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/mr-obamas-war-in-libya/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Right Hook To al Jazeera!

By Findalis

This video is from 2009 but it could have been yesterday or today.

Captain Avichai Adra'i  (IDF) is not only impressive in what he says, but in how he says it.  He speaks clearly and forcefully to the Muslim world.  No PC or Diplomatic double speak.  He basically reads the Muslim world the riot act.  On al Jazeera to boot.

H/T Elder of Ziyon

Budget Battle On The Hill And In The Blogosphere

We spend too much. We spend more as a country than we take in.

That is the underlying concept the GOP has been preaching since before the November midterm elections and their promises to cut government spending was, in large part, one of the major reasons voters handed them the biggest victory seen in decades with one of the largest turnover of House seats, giving control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans and stripping that gavel from Nancy Pelosi to make John Boehner the Speaker of the House.

Let me repeat myself.. we spend too much.

Ezra Klein runs the latest reports in the ongoing budget battle down in one paragraph:

Back in February, Paul Ryan unveiled what was supposed to be the opening bid from the House Republicans: $32 billion in cuts for the rest of 2011. But the Tea Party demanded more and House leadership quickly caved, doubling their proposed cuts to more than $60 billion -- or almost $100 billion less than barack Obama’s 2011 budget request (quick note: different news stories present these numbers differently, as it depends on whether you use Obama’s budget request or 2010’s funding as a baseline. I’m using the difference from 2010 funding, which makes for lower sums). Now Democrats are offering as a compromise measure $30 billion in total cuts, or exactly what Ryan’s original proposal had called for. Pretty neat, huh?

Progressive liberals in the blogosphere are having another woe is me moment over the latest $20 million in cuts the Democrats are offering up. Calling their party leaders losers, calling the offer pathetic because they don't want spending cuts and generally peeved that Democrats are supposedly caving in.

People like Ezra are handing out the talking points as evidenced by his title "A huge win for the Tea Party, a win for Republicans and a big loss for Democrats."

Really?

Is that truly where they want to go with this?

The U.S. is over $14 trillion in debt, we spend more than we take in, and Republicans were handed the largest victory in 70 years in the last elections on the campaign promise that they would cut spending massively.

$30 billion is a start, I will admit that because I see each "drop in the bucket" as going toward the eventual outcome of filling the bucket, emptying it, then putting it back down to collect more.

Liberals like Ezra would love for conservatives to see the "Democrats have lost" meme and kick back, smile happily and stop pushing for more spending cuts, but that is not going to happen.

It is not a we win, you lose game. It also shouldn't be a conservative vs liberal battle either, but it is because the priorities of the left do not match the priorities of the right or Independents.

Gallup recently found that 71 percent of Americans say they worry about the economy "a great deal," 22 percent say they worry about the economy a "fair amount" with only 7 percent listed as "only a little/not at all."

64 percent of Americans say they worry about federal spending and the budget deficit a "great deal" with 23 percent saying they worry about it a "fair amount" and 12 percent listed as "only a little/not at all."

Those are the top two out of 14 issues Gallup polled on.

The breakdown of those Gallup findings are telling though and explains why supporters claim Democratic leaders are folding or losing in their eyes.

Click image to enlarge

Federal spending doesn't even register in the top four for Democrats while it is in the top two for Republicans and Independents.

The fiscal showdown continues as Congress returns to their jobs this week and in this specific case Republicans have the majority support of the American people who understand what liberal pundits do not seem able to grasp.

40 days ago the GOP controlled House passed a bill to fund government and cut spending and 40 days later the Senate, which is still Democratically controlled, has not because they are fighting to prevent the spending cuts the House passed.

We spend too much.

If Democrats force a government shutdown because they refuse to understand that basic concept, Americans are more than aware of which party is fighting to cut spending and which party is fighting tooth and nail to prevent those cuts.

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Election 2012: Already getting it wrong

Before Big Ears speaks to the nation tonight, I reviewed my 2012 election predictions from a couple weeks ago and noticed I am already wrong. So here are more soon to be wrong predictions.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/election-2012-already-getting-it-wrong/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Video: Donald Trump Addresses A Range Of Issues On FOX News' "FOX & Friends": UPDATE, Trump Produces His Own Birth Certificate

[Update 4/14/11] Donald Trump To Make Announcement On Presidency Run On Season Finale Of Celebrity Apprentice

[Update below post] Trump produces his own birth certificate.

I love this guy. Whether Donald Trump actually runs for President in 2012 or not, he is paving the way for any Republican candidate, handing them platform upon platform on issues ranging from China, OPEC, spending, debt, Libya and yes, even the whole controversy surrounding Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Video below, via RCP:



As I asked back in November 2010, will Trump be the one to say "Barack, You're Fired?"

Interestingly, when the topic of the Obama birth certificate comes up, Trump, once again, is not the one that approaches the topic, he is asked about it first.

Same thing happened on The View when that discussion made the news.

[Update] Newsmax exclusive: Donald Trump produces his own birth certificate to Newsmax.

“It took me one hour to get my birth certificate. It’s inconceivable that after four years of questioning, the President still hasn’t produced his birth certificate. I’m just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why’s he making an issue out of this?"---- Donald Trump

Hysterical. I swear, I love this guy.

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Former KKK Leader Wants To Be Democratic Mayor Of Lake Wales, Florida

One of those "are you kidding me" moments.

Video below (H/T Gateway Pundit)



Democrat John Paul Rogers, 70, was not only a member of United Klans of America. According to Retired University of South Florida Professor Darryl Paulson, an expert on the Klan, Rogers was the was the head of the organization in Florida that was part of one of the largest and one of the most violent branches of the KKK.

WTSP, 10News, reports that "Rogers isn't apologizing or renouncing his time with the Klan."

They then quote him:

He says, "Well I resigned years ago, about 30 years ago. Jesus said, 'He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone,' and so far no one's hit me with a rock. I don't know of any act of any violence that was sanctioned by our organization, either national or in Florida."

But Darryl Paulson, a USF professor, who is an expert in the Klan, points to a case in which two Klansman with the United Klans of America were convicted of attacking 19-year-old Michael Donald in 1981 in Mobile, Alabama. Donald was beaten up and his throat was cut.

Paulson says, "They hung him from a tree and they were sued in court and the civil judgment was launched against the United Klans of America. The jury awarded a six million dollar settlement to the mother of the slain child."

He adds, "When Rogers says he resigned. He had no other choice. The United Klans couldn't pay off the six million dollar settlement but they lost their headquarters. Their headquarters was sold as part of the judgement so in essence they were forced out of business. They were financially bankrupt."

Paulson says, "I think that they were the most violent of the Klan organizations. I think their fingerprints are on a lot of different things that happened - most of them negative with respect to racial incidents during the 1950's and 1960's. Rogers had to know there was no way he couldn't know it."

In the above linked article it says the courts awarded the family of the slain victim $6 million, but according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the actual award handed down in 1987 was $7 million.

The case was filed on 06/14/1984, by Beulah Mae Donald, mother of Michael Donald, a black teenager lynched by Klan members. The Defendants are listed as United Klans of America, Inc., Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Bennie Jack Hays and other members of the United and other Klan groups.

From the SPL Center website:

Shutting down the notorious United Klans
Nineteen-year-old Michael Donald was on his way to the store in 1981 when two members of the United Klans of America abducted him, beat him, cut his throat and hung his body from a tree on a residential street in Mobile, Ala.

Angry that an interracial jury had failed to convict another black man for killing a white police officer in Birmingham, the Klansmen selected Michael Donald at random and lynched him to intimidate and threaten other blacks. On the same evening, other Klan members burned a cross on the Mobile County courthouse lawn.

The two Klansmen who carried out the ritualistic killing were eventually arrested and convicted. Convinced that the Klan itself should be held responsible for the lynching, Center attorneys filed a civil suit on behalf of Donald's mother, Beulah Mae Donald vs. United Klans. In 1987, the Center won an historic $7 million verdict against the men involved in the lynching.

The verdict marked the end of the United Klans, the same group that had beaten the Freedom Riders in 1961, murdered civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo in 1965, and bombed Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.

The group was forced to turn over its headquarters to Beulah Mae Donald, and two additional Klansmen were convicted of criminal charges.

Rogers was not specifically named in the suit (judgment here- PDF) but the United Klans of America was and with him refusing to denounce the group, I cannot see how the beautiful town of Lake Wales (yes I have been there) could imagine voting for such an ugly, hatefilled individual.

Deep Southern Fried Religious Beauty

Back in Los Angeles after a 10 day barnstorming tour of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. It was pure Deep Southern Fried religious beauty.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/deep-southern-fried-religious-beauty/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

RIP Elizabeth Taylor. You will be missed.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/rip-elizabeth-taylor/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Biden Staff Keeps Reporter In Closet While They Party

Call me amused.

The White House website proudly says ‘President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history.’

But try telling Vice President Joe Biden’s staff that, after they held a local reporter in a closet for hours after he was invited to cover a Florida political fundraiser because they did not want him talking with the guests.

As the unaware $500-a-head invitees dined on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps, veteran reporter Scott Powers was locked away.

The Orlando Sentinel reporter was ushered into the closet inside wealthy property developer Alan Ginsburg’s Winter Falls mansion, after being told that Joe Biden and Senator Bill Nelson had not yet arrived.

They were due to speak to the audience to raise money for the 2012 elections.

Powers snapped this image of the closet in which he was held and posted it online

The reported was allowed out for 35 minutes when Biden and Nelson spoke, then brought back to his holding closet for the remainder of the event.

Later he received a phone call from Ginsburg, the owner of the mansion, who apologized for the treatment Powers received in his home and claiming he had no idea that Powers had been locked in a closet.

‘He said he was just following their lead and was extremely embarrassed by the whole thing.’

It is reported Biden's staff also emailed an apology to Powers as well.

One guest emailed the paper that reported the story as well:

‘I was in attendance at the Fundraiser and enjoyed a nice lunch.

‘If I had known there was a reporter stuffed in the closet, I would have been compelled to stand up and demand answers.

‘I would also like to know if this is actually legal to treat people like caged animals. I’m disgusted by these actions.’

What makes this especially amusing is this story comes after Obama spokesman Jay Carney was reported to have said the United States is firm in its belief that journalists should be protected and allowed to do their work.

Then again Carney was referring to an Oklahoma journalist in Libya.

Do as I say not as I do moment here I guess.

Consider this your ridiculous item for the week.

(Headline changed because closet door was not actually "locked")

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VIDEO: Michele Bachmann In Iowa

Video below of Michele Bachmann speaking to conservatives in Iowa at Representative Steve King's conference.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Politico headlines with "Michele Bachmann steals the show in Iowa", highlighting some of the meat and potato moments for those who do not have 24 minutes readily available to watch the whole clip.

She then started firing up the crowd, saying, ”Does anyone remember the trillion dollar stimulus bill? Did President Obama correctly diagnose the problem with job creation. ..what’s his level of credibility on job creation?"

The crowd replied, "No!"

"Not so much, that’s right!" Bachmann said. "Iowans are very intelligent people, despite being extremely good-looking and very well tempered."

After a few other similar exchanges with the crowd, Bachmann invoked the president's failed Final Four predictions and said, "Now he’s got us engaged in another third middle eastern war? Talk about March Madness, can anyone say Jimmy Carter"

She also made a joke about Chinese President Hu and the national debt, saying "So we know now that Hu is your daddy."

And she drew massive boos from the crowd when she mentioned New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who recently said he is looking into a waiver from the health care reform bill for New York City. She noted he said last year, as first reported by POLITICO, that "the bill and I are one."

"This is I believe the greatest power grab that I have ever seen," she said, comparing "this movie" to the fiscal crisis in Greece and adding, "It's not a pretty picture."

"The Constitution holds the answer. … We the people," she said. "We are the answer to the problem today in the United States because you need to be pushed back in charge of your own health care. ... The federal govt doesn’t have a clue how to create jobs. You do."

Read the rest over at The Politico.

It has also been reported recently that Michele Bachmann will be forming a presidential exploratory committee by June.

I'll give Bachmann this, she certainly knows how to fire up a crowd.

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Are We Helping Those That Killed Our Troops?

This cannot be good no matter how you look at it.

Headline "Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links."

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

John Hawkins succinctly states the irony here:

In other words, if you had the rebel commander, al-Hasidi, and Gaddafi in a room together and you only had one bullet, it would be a really tough call trying to figure out which one we’d want to shoot. Quite frankly, I’d have to admit that I’d be leaning towards blowing away al-Hasadi.

PS: You can tell Obama really put a tremendous amount of thought into this before he went to war — and, yes, that’s sarcasm.

So, if Obama gets his regime change in Libya, al-Quaeda sympathizers and those that participated in killing our very own troops end up with a new safe haven?

Then I read one of the next headlines at Memeorandum and see "Qaddafi Forces Pull Back as Rebels Retake Ajdabiya."

Related topic

It is not only Republicans and Conservatives that are asking questions about the mission, the scope, the endgame... Liberal pundits are asking the very same questions.

I repeat... this cannot be good.


Related headlines

Obama's Unconstitutional War

Why Obama's Libya war coalition is the smallest in decades

Antiwar Senator, War-Powers President

Geraldine Ferraro Dies At 75

Via Fox News:

Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president, has died of blood cancer, her family announced Saturday. She was 75.

Almost 13 years ago Ferraro was given 3-5 years to live according to doctors but new medications approved at the time allowed her to go into remission and live longer than originally projected.

Sympathies to her family and friends.

RIP

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Media Matters: 'Guerrilla Warfare And Sabotage' Aimed At Fox News

I am not sure whether to laugh at or feel extremely sorry for Media Matters, but I get this visual in my head of a little Toy Yorkie nipping at the heals of a Great Dane, knowing that the bigger dog won't even notice the tiny lil thing biting it's ankle but also knowing if the big one decided to pay attention it would literally crush the toy pup with one paw.

Bring. It. On.

The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel.

For years liberals and progressives have waged this war on Fox News and what has it gotten them?

As of April 2010, Fox had hit #1 for it's 100th consecutive month as the top cable news network. (Source, Huffington Post)

In primetime (8-11PM), Fox News averaged 1.92 million total viewers (485,000 A25-54) to take first place; MSNBC came in second with 785,000 total viewers (239,000 A25-54). CNN came in third in total viewers with 596,000, beating HLN's 512,000; in the A25-54 demo, however, HLN placed third with 166,000 to CNN's 148,000.

As of February 2011, Fox News reached the distinction of being on top for 9 years, beating out MSNBC and CNN combined.

As of March 2011, this month, Fox News is still leading the pack with over two times the viewership nightly as any other cable news channel. (Source, TV Newser)

In some views, the war between Media Matters and Fox is not, necessarily, bad for either side. Media Matters has transformed itself into a pillar of the progressive movement with its aggressive new brand of media campaigning. And the attacks cement Fox’s status on the right.

“Fox is happy about it — and it makes their position more vivid among their supporters,” said Paul Levinson, a media studies professor at Fordham University. “One way of keeping your core supporters happy is to be attacked by people your core supporters don’t like.”

Game On.

PS. With media Matters watching everything Fox News does, doesn't that mean even more viewers for Fox?

Win/Win for Fox News.

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Huffpo Opens Huge Can Of Worms By Banning Andrew Breitbart From Front Page Citing 'Ad Hominem' Attacks

The Huffington Post, run by Arianna Huffington, banned Andrew Breitbart from their front page content citing "ad hominem" attacks that Breitbart made in another publication, The Daily Caller, against Huffington friend Van Jones.

Here is Huffington's statement:

Andrew Breitbart’s ad hominem attack on Van Jones in The Daily Caller -- right down to calling him a "commie punk" and "a cop killer-supporting, racist, demagogic freak" -- violates the tenets of debate and civil discourse we have strived for since the day we launched. As a result, we will no longer feature his posts on the front page.

He is welcome to continue publishing his work on HuffPost provided it adheres to our editorial guidelines, as the two posts he published on HuffPost did -- guidelines that include a strict prohibition on ad hominem attacks. Our decision today recognizes that placing posts on the front page is an editorial call that elevates some posts over others, and is an indication of how seriously we take these judgment calls.

Headline reaction to this pretty much shows exactly the rancid can of worms this has opened for Huffington Post with other liberals.

Lee Stranahan, because of this move on the part of Huffington Post, has announced he will no longer write for them- "Why I’m Quitting Blogging At The Huffington Post"

I’ll keep this short. As I wrote this morning, writing for the Huffington Post has been one of the great joys of my life for the past few years and I’ve been proud to be associated with them.

But as a writer, this latest move by The Huffington Post of banning Andrew Breitbart from their front page (because of comments he made to a different website) is both unprecedented, arbitrary and deeply offensive to the intellectual openness that Arianna Huffington has purported to believe in.

Although I’ve had a number of pieces featured there, I’m certainly not a huge presence at HuffPost so in that sense, I don’t expect this move on my part to make much of a ripple but I can’t in good conscience support this awful, short sighted move by the site that I loved.

Alex Pareene over at Salon, no fan of Breitbart either, lays into Huffington with "The stupid saga of Andrew Breitbart and the Huffington Post."

A strict prohibition on ad hominem attacks! ("Against Arianna's friends," is the bit of that sentence that spokesman Marco Ruiz left out.) (Also there is apparently no prohibition on constant, practically obsessive race-baiting, but whatever.) (And obviously there is no prohibition whatsoever on spreading toxic bullshit about autism and other assorted crimes against science.)

Andrew has now gotten exactly what he wanted. He doesn't need to publish his idiocies at the Huffington Post. But getting banned from the Huffington Post proves his thesis about the repressive, anti-free speech liberal media. And he'll never shut up about it.

David Weigel is disappointed as he titles his piece with "Huffington Post Wimps Out on Breitbart."

He didn't write or say any of that at HuffPo, a site he helped develop in 2005. Is the Huffington Post's standard that contributors can be to some modified limited hang-out if they use ad hominems in other forums? Boy, good thing Breitbart doesn't have an army of contributors who can comb HuffPo authors' published and spoken work to see if they've done that.

Moving right along to reactions from right leaning sites and people, we see that Weigel was spot on in his snark as well as Breitbart's "big" contributors being more than willing to sift through the leftist drivel over at Huffington Post to show the extreme hypocrisy of their actions against Breitbart.

Blaring headline by Alexander Marlow on Breitbart's Big Journalism site, states "ANNOUNCEMENT: Big Journalism Pledges to Help AOL/HuffPo Enforce No ‘Ad Hominem Attacks’ Rule."

We’ve never seen the Huffington Post make an effort like this to suppress the speech of any of their other (mostly left-wing) personalities. The hypocrisy is laughably obvious, and it was left-of-center bloggers Mickey Kaus of the Daily Caller, Alex Pareene of Salon, and Dave Weigel of Slate who were quickest to point it out. Pareene sums it up this way:

Andrew has now gotten exactly what he wanted. He doesn’t need to publish his idiocies at the Huffington Post. But getting banned from the Huffington Post proves his thesis about the repressive, anti-free speech liberal media. And he’ll never shut up about it.

True, we don’t plan to shut up about it any time soon, but we also don’t plan to shut up about the fact that HuffPo doesn’t just speak for HuffPo any more. They speak for AOL too. And the message they have sent is crystal: radical-left “truther” Van Jones and the anti-free speech race-baiting organization Color of Change he founded have editorial control at the new AOL/HuffPo, and they’re out to silence the Americans with whom they disagree.

AOL/HuffPo has thousands of bloggers, many of whom have said and will say things much worse than what Breitbart said, so we here at Big Journalism are hereby pledging to help AOL/HuffPo enforce their “no ad hominem attacks by bloggers” rule. The work will be hard, the hours will be long, but in the name of equality and for the good of the site Andrew Breitbart developed, we will do our best to save AOL/HuffPo from itself.

Head on over as they provide their first set of examples with video proof of their assertions.

Big Journalism isn't the only ones being "helpful" in pointing out examples of ad hominem attacks published on the Huffington Post site itself (just not against one of Arianna's friends) and are highlighting them.

The Daily Caller with "Breitbart banned from front page of Huffington Post for ‘ad hominem’ attacks despite HuffPo history of printing ad hominem attacks."

Breitbart is far from the first prominently featured contributor to The Huffington Post that has made ad hominem attacks (though unlike others who had their ad hominem attacks published in posts on The Huffington Post, Breitbart’s comments were not made in posts on the site).

The Huffington Post published an article by actor John Cusack in November 2005 that called Republicans “a league of bastards” and said that Iraq war supporters “are human scum.”

Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz wrote an article appearing on The Huffington Post a day after the death of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist in September 2005. Dershowitz wrote that Rehnquist “started out his political career as a Republican thug” and that “Rehnquist’s judicial philosophy was result-oriented, activist, and authoritarian.”

Rehnquist was a “friend of corporations, polluters, right wing Republicans, religious fundamentalists, homophobes, and other bigots,” Dershowitz wrote.

“Cheney is a terrorist. He terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately,” wrote actor Alec Baldwin in February 2006.

Baldwin wrote in a subsequent post, “I want to apologize to all of the readers of this blog for referring to Vice President Cheney as a terrorist… How about something more measured, then? How about… a lying, thieving Oil Whore. Or, a murderer of the US Constitution?”

That was just examples from page one, they provide a few more on page two.

This is just day one folks, imagine all the wonderful things still left to find in the years Arianna has allowed her leftist writers free reign to write absolutely anything their heart desires without restraint, as long as it wasn't against one of her friends.

Mickey Kaus calls it "Huffpocrisy"

I would have to agree.

Andrew Brietbart gets the last word or to rephrase, the last laugh. (Via his Twitter feed)

Check my Twitter feed: Toldja the organized left are totalitarian anti-free speech freaks. Van*glorious & van*quished Jones leading charge!

Point made Andrew.

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Questions about Libya, Obama, and Kinetic Conflicts

There are many questions regarding Libya, Obama, and "kinetic conflicts." After 40 years, why is Khadafi still only a Colonel?

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/questions-about-libya-obama-and-kinetic-conflicts/

Driving from Knoxville Tennessee to Atlanta Georgia.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Where is Michael Dunahee?

Twenty years ago, 4 year old Michael Dunahee was at a Victoria, BC park with his family. Within minutes, he disappeared without a trace.

From Lighting Their Way Home:

[...]

On March 24th, 1991, Crystal Dunahee fixed Michael’s jacket in the parking lot of Blanshard Park, an out of the way park in a tough Victorian neighborhood. Crystal and a friend went to play a softball game in a field north of the parking lot, while Micheal asked to play on a swing set just south of the lot. Bruce reminded his son not to wander away from the playground or leave with any other children. He then took the couples 16 month old daughter, Caitlin, to the side of the ball field, not 100 meters away from the playground. Bruce recalls that after about 5 minutes, he stood on a rocky outcropping to check on his son. The playground was empty and the police were immediately called. Two other witnesses, in addition to Michael’s parents, told the police that they did see Michael playing in the park that day. Family, friends and relatives of the Dunahee family were all very quickly ruled out as possibly being involved in his disappearance.

(More here)

Yesterday, Victoria Police Department held a news conference with Crystal and Bruce Dunahee:

Go read much more at Assoluta Tranquillita here.

Liberals, Libya, and France

Regarding liberals, Libya is like everything else. Check with France.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/03/liberals-libya-and-france/

Speaking tonight to the Roane County GOP ladies near Knoxville Tennessee after making the drive from Birmingham Alabama.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Leftist mobs and the Second Amendment

Despite totally supporting the Second Amendment right to bear arms, I have a gun control compromise that will make everyone happy.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress/2011/03/leftist-mobs-and-the-second-amendment/

Spoke today to the Alabama Republican Women at their legislative day on the hill in Montgomery. Now back in Birmingham.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Is Donald Trump A Birther? Nope

[Update 4/14/11] Donald Trump To Make Announcement On Presidency Run On Season Finale Of Celebrity Apprentice

"I want him to show his birth certificate. I want him to show his birth certificate. There's something on that birth certificate that he doesn't like."-- Donald Trump, ABC's The View

Video of Trump making that statement and more will be at the end of the post.

Donald Trump is ruffling some feathers as he questions why Barack Obama refuses to produce a birth certificate.

When asked why he thinks Obama should have to, he responds "because I have to and everybody else has to."

Right there is the whole point. Many of us believe Barack Obama is a citizen, was born in America but as I asked early on when this first became an issue, "why not just show it and put this issue to rest?"

Da Techguy's Blog makes this point:

My wife is starting a new job, we will be getting new insurance because of it. We are REQUIRED to provide not only our marriage certificate but the long form copies of the birth certificates of both of our children.

Having to produce a birth certificate is not an irregular occurrence for the average person so when Trump says this to the general public, they understand it.

Does it make Trump a "birther" to want to see the actual document and find out what the big deal about producing it has been about?

Unlike many birthers I have seen and read up on, Trump states he believes Obama is "probably" American born and I think Trump falls into a middle category, not a birther but questioning that something, whatever it may be, is being hidden.

Trump is not coming out and saying Obama is not American born, he also is showing no fear of saying "show the damn thing" and that middle ground is what separates Trump from birthers but also helps Trump distinguish himself from those that will not address the issue at all.

For many, it isn't a question of whether Obama was born in Hawaii or not, at this point people just want to see why Obama has refused to produce it.

Trump is not a birther but he is a very smart man to address the issue in this manner, admit Obama was probably born here but claim that something "strange" is going on because Obama won't produce the one simple document that would make this whole issue disappear in a heartbeat.

That will resonate with many.