The Council Has Spoken!! Watcher’s Council Results 01.23.15

The Council Has Spoken! The votes have been cast and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

“I came from the United States of America to stand for freedom, with all free people, against the forces of oppression and darkness which you are representing. … You are fighting for the most radically intolerant and hateful ideology on the planet. … You are already subjugated! You are already their useful idiots. You are already their tools. “ – Robert Spencer, speaking to a Left wing audience in Europe, June 2, 2011.

“Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran…should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.” – CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad

The ideological descendants of the communist/progressive Left that spent its capital hoping the West would lose the Cold War to the Soviet Union are today’s leftist core. Based on their hatred for the United States, the Left has forged a symbiotic relationship with radical Islam, whose hatred for America equals theirs. Both make it clear that they consider Western civilization evil and unworthy of preservation. - Ben R. Furman, Former FBI Counterterrorism Chief

This week’s winning essay, The Noisy Room’s – An American Intifada – Communists and Radical Islamists Join Forces is a scintillating piece that concerns something only the most blind refuse to see, the alliance between the Red and the Green, between the radical Left and Islam. Here’s a slice:

Trevor Loudon wrote an article that each and every one of us should read and take note of: Intifada USA? American Radicals Build Ties to “Palestinian” Revolutionaries. I agree completely with Trevor when he says that 2015 could usher in chaos, unrest and violence as we have not seen in our lifetime. The Communists are now joining hands in America with the Radical Islamists, forming an American Intifada – an uprising, resistance, revolt. They are using racism as the building blocks and their hate for America as the glue to forward massive havoc and violence in our streets.

The riots in Ferguson and New York were just the warm up act for these thugs. They are looking to create what they think is an American Spring, which will push every radical and Communist ideal there is out there. It will scream racism, go after the police and alphabet agencies, cry social and environmental injustice, push demands for Islamic acceptance and Shariah law – and in the mix will be the ever-present Jew-hatred which is the kindling for their hatred. In this twisted case, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. For the short term anyway.

Taking the lead are primarily Black and Latino revolutionaries who claim to represent the movements for “black lives” and racial justice, who took a jaunt to Palestine to show solidarity against – you guessed it – Israel. Meet the Dream Defenders Palestine Delegation:

Representatives at the forefront of the movements for Black lives and racial justice took a historic trip to Palestine in early January to connect with activists living under Israeli occupation.

Black journalists, artists and organizers representing Ferguson, Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) and more have joined the Dream Defenders for a 10-day trip to the occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.

The trip comes after a year of highly-publicized repression in Ferguson, the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as solidarity between these places.

Ahmad Abuznaid, Dream Defenders’ legal and policy director and a co-organizer of the delegation, said that the goal of the trip was to make connections.

“The goals were primarily to allow for the group members to experience and see first-hand the occupation, ethnic cleansing and brutality Israel has levied against Palestinians, but also to build real relationships with those on the ground leading the fight for liberation,” wrote Abuznaid.

“In the spirit of Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael and many others, we thought the connections between the African American leadership of the movement in the U.S. and those on the ground in Palestine needed to be reestablished and fortified.”

Abuznaid said the trip represented a chance to bring the power of Black organizing to Palestine.

“As a Palestinian who has learned a great deal about struggle, movement, militancy and liberation from African Americans in the U.S., I dreamt of the day where I could bring that power back to my people in Palestine. This trip is a part of that process.”

[…]

For Steven Pargett, communications director for Dream Defenders, visiting the Dheisheh Refugee Camp outside of Bethlehem made these connections clearer: “A camp doesn’t have to have a fence with barbed wire all around it in order to be a place where displaced people are struggling to survive.”

Pargett said that Black people in the United States are also displaced refugees.

“Our refugee camps are lower income communities and project buildings all around the country that many would not be living in had we not been taken into slavery generations ago. Rather than having the Israeli Defense occupation in our hoods, we have the occupation of police officers who often prove to have little regard for our lives, being that they are not from these communities,” Pargett wrote.

Hip-hop was a unifying force for the delegation, Pargett said, commenting that Palestinians have been inspired by hip-hop in the U.S. and use it as a tool to amplify their own voices.

St. Louis-based rapper and activist Tef Poe said his experience in the camps connecting through hip-hop was the best day of his life.

“A refugee camp with a bunch of people fighting for their lives and using hip hop to lift their spirits and spark the minds of the children and break down gender barriers between young girls and boys,” Tef posted to Facebook. “I spent a day with these ppl .. Most amazing day of my life. Thanks be to the Most, the struggle is beautiful.”

This trip is another chapter in the recent history of Black-Palestinian solidarity. In November, a group of 10 Palestinian student activists visited Ferguson and St. Louis, meeting with people organizing in the streets.

A month later, upon their return, the students hosted a series of events at their university in the West Bank to raise awareness with the Black struggle and stand in solidarity. Dream Defenders unanimously passed a resolution to support the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in this interval.

[…]

Moving forward, delegates expressed a desire for Black and American action in support of Palestine.

“I believe the Black Lives Matter movement can benefit greatly by learning about struggles outside of the U.S., but particularly the Palestinian struggle,” said Patrisse Cullors. “I want this trip to be an example for how Black folks and Arab communities can be in better solidarity with one another.”

Cherrell Brown sees joint action as a way to global freedom.

“I want us to take back things we can do in the now, as Americans, to raise awareness and action around Palestinian liberation. I want us to reimagine what society could and will look like when we’ve dismantled this white-supremacist patriarchal and capitalist society. I want us to do it together. I want to bring back these conversations and stories in hopes that it will help add to this global struggle to get free.”

The full list of delegates includes five Dream Defenders (Phillip Agnew, Ciara Taylor, Steven Pargett, Sherika Shaw, Ahmad Abuznaid), Tef Poe and Tara Thompson (Ferguson/Hands Up United), journalist Marc Lamont Hill, Cherrell Brown and Carmen Perez (Justice League NYC), Charlene Carruthers (Black Youth Project), poet and artist Aja Monet, Patrisse Cullors (Black Lives Matter), and Maytha Alhassen, a USC PhD student. Catch up with the delegation and follow their last few days using #DDPalestine on Twitter and Instagram.

Gee, that’s a who’s who of racists, social justice agitators and Communists. Just look how chummy and united they have all become. I know you will be really, really shocked to learn that the Tides Foundation is funding this. And who is behind the Tides Foundation? Why, that old spider George Soros who hates Jews, America and freedom in general. You know, the guy who gave $33 million to the activists who took part in Ferguson and other venues of violence.

This is all part of a movement that has been gathering steam for a while now and it is thoroughly anti-Israel. Guess who is in the thick of it? Dr. Marc Lamont Hill of HuffPost Live, BET News and CNN. Watch it Marc, your antisemitism is showing and badly. Our comrade Hill also spouted revolutionary rhetoric to promote the Dream Defenders. Ferguson, Eric Garner and #BlackLivesMatter protests have become the calling card for the new face of the Occupy Movement. You are witnessing the rise of the Islamo-Communist Axis in America.

More at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Victor Davis Hanson – Muslims And Islamists submitted by Joshuapundit. I’m a huge fan of VDH, even when I disagree with him. In this particular case, I think he is spot on, and all I’ll say is that what he wrote here deserves your utmost attention.

Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 1/3 votes! – The Noisy Room – An American Intifada – Communists and Radical Islamists Join Forces
• Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit - The ‘Selma’ Controversy And What It Says About Race In America
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Ask Marion – American Sniper… Hollywood and Sharpton
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Bookworm Room – Mt. Holyoke, The Vagina Monologues, and why “The Coming College Decline” is a good thing
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor – Consensual Incest Puts Progressives on Slippery Slope
• Fifth place with 1 vote –The Right Planet – The Marxist Dialectic – From Lenin to Obama
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Deborah Maccoby to Jews of Europe: denounce Israel and live happily thereafter
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Nice Deb – The Obama Regime, CAIR, and the Doctrine of Taqiyya
• Seventh place with 1/3 vote – VA Right! - Hanover Photo-gate Deepens – New Photo Casts Doubt on Statement to Mechanicsville Local

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 votes! –Victor Davis Hanson – Muslims And Islamists submitted by Joshuapundit
• Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Marine Le Pen –To Call This Threat By Its Name submitted by The Razor
• Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Global Guerillas – Saudi Arabia Plunges into an Abyss submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Jerome Corsi/WND - Admirals, generals, intel: Benghazi inquest compromised, ‘I think Gowdy has been warned away or threatened’ submitted by Ask Marion
• Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Sultan Knish – The Importance Of Blasphemy submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Third place *t* with 1 vote – Michelle Malkin – Attack Of The Open-Borders Mau-Mau-ers submitted by The Noisy Room
• Third place *t* with 1 vote – Kevin D. Williamson/ NRO - The FOX News Obsession submitted by Nice Deb
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 votes - The Passing Parade – The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 votes - American Thinker – Eric Cantor Lectures On How to Win Elections? submitted by VA Right!
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 votes - Tom Rogan/NRO – The New Islamic State: Boko Haram submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Mike McDaniel/The Truth About Guns-It Happened Before, It Will Happen Again submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - The New American – Obama and UN Created Terror State in Libya submitted by The Right Planet
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Volokh Conspiracy – Over 80 percent of Americans support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA” submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Eli Lake – Why Obama Can’t Say ‘Radical Islam’ submitted by The Watcher
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - The Other McCain – Rapists Rape and Rape Again submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

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And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

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The Butler from Another Planet….

By Michael Reagan | Aug 22, 2013 | Townhall.com

There you go again, Hollywood.

You’ve taken a great story about a real person and real events and twisted it into a bunch of lies.

You took the true story of Eugene Allen, the White House butler who served eight presidents from 1952 to 1986, and turned it into a clichéd “message movie.”

“Lee Daniels’ The Butler’” stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a fictional character supposedly based on Eugene Allen’s real life.

But let’s compare the two White House butlers.

Guess which one grew up in segregated Virginia, got a job at the White House and rose to become maître d’hôtel, the highest position in White House service?

Guess which one had a happy, quiet life and was married to the same woman for 65 years? And who had one son who served honorably in Vietnam and never made a peep of protest through the pre- and post-civil rights era?

Now guess which butler grew up on a Georgia farm, watched the boss rape his mother and then, when his father protested the rape, watched the boss put a bullet through his father’s head?

Guess which butler feels the pain of America’s racial injustices so deeply that he quits his White House job and joins his son in a protest movement?

And guess which butler has a wife (Oprah Winfrey) who becomes an alcoholic and has a cheap affair with the guy next door? (I’m surprised it wasn’t the vice president.)

After comparing Hollywood’s absurd version of Eugene Allen’s life story with the truth, you wonder why the producers didn’t just call it “The Butler from Another Planet.”

Screenwriter Danny Strong says he was trying to present a “backstage kind of view of the White House” that portrayed presidents and first ladies as they really were in everyday life.

Well, I was backstage at the White House -- a few hundred times. I met and knew the real butler, Mr. Allen, and I knew a little about my father.

Portraying Ronald Reagan as a racist because he was in favor of lifting economic sanctions against South Africa is simplistic and dishonest.

If you knew my father, you’d know he was the last person on Earth you would call a racist.

If Strong had gotten his “facts” from the Reagan biographies, he’d have learned that when my father was playing football at Eureka College one of his best friends was a black teammate.

Strong also would have learned that my father invited black players home for dinner and once, when two players were not allowed to stay in the local hotel, he invited them to stay overnight at his house.

Screenwriter Strong also might have found out that when my father was governor of California he appointed more blacks to positions of power than any of predecessors -- combined.

It’s appalling to me that someone is trying to imply my father was a racist. He and Nancy and the rest of the Reagan family treated Mr. Allen with the utmost respect.

It was Nancy Reagan who invited the butler to dinner – not to work but as guest. And it was my father who promoted Mr. Allen to maître d’hôtel.

The real story of the White House butler doesn’t imply racism at all. It’s simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that was never there.

My father’s position on lifting the South African sanctions in the ‘80s had nothing to do with the narrow issue of race. It had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War.

But facts don’t matter to Hollywood’s creative propagandists. Truth is too complicated and not dramatic enough for scriptwriters, who think in minute terms, not the big picture, when it comes to a conservative.

Despite what Hollywood’s liberal hacks believe, my father didn’t see people in colors. He saw them as individual Americans. If the liberals in Hollywood -- and Washington -- ever start looking at people the way he did, the country will be a lot better off.

Some say Oprah helping ‘The Butler’ attendance. No one asked how much Jane Fonda’s role kept people away – Updated

Jane Fonda opponent won't show 'The Butler' at his Kentucky theater

Heritage Foundation’s Ed Meese to Newsmax: ‘Butler’ Movie Wrong to Portray Reagan as Racist

Fictional History in ‘Butler’ Belittles Civil Rights Progress

In a story published on The US Report, about the casting of ‘Hanoi’ Jane as Nancy Reagan, the director acknowledges his political activism and admitted the insult was intentional…

Boycott Hanoi Jane Playing Nancy Reagan is on Facebook Page

The Butler (Kindle) is (would be) a terrific story that deserves to be told. Too bad it wasn’t told by honest people without political agendas who felt it necessary to use a traitor to portray one of our most beloved first ladies (insulting Vietnam Vets of all colors) and to distort much of history. Perhaps reading Wes Haygood’s book The Butler: A Witness to History would be a better option!?!  Or at least wait until the movie comes to (free) TV, if you watch it knowing the slant and bias the movie is based on.

Technorati Tags: The Butler,movies,Hollywood,liberal bias Hollywood,Vietnam,veterans,Michael Reagan,boycotts,History,Politics,Fonda,Oprah,Jane Fonda,Hanoi Jane,Nancy Reagan,Reagan,radicals,stand-up,wake-up,political activism,racebaiting,rewriting history,Hollywood malpractice,Paul Kengor,truth,Eugene Allen,divide and conquer,liberal agenda,Progressivism,Cold War,understanding history

Death of a Despot, Mourned by American Marxists

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton  -  The NoisyRoom

Ding dong… The Venezuelan dictator is dead at the age of 58 from pelvic cancer. He literally rotted from within, just as his soul did. Good riddance, to Marxist rubbish.

But Hugo Chavez’s comrades in the US and across the planet mourn his passing. Grief stricken Leftists such as Sean Penn…who tweeted: I have lost a dear friend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Michael Moore, Jimmy Carter, Oliver Stone, Naomi Campbell, Kevin Spacey, Courtney Love, Barack Obama, SEIU (who held a memorial) and a cadre of Hollywood reds are devastated by the loss of their Marxist brethren, who in the end, begged that his subjects not let him die. Iran, Bolivia, China and El Salvador all held tributes to their evil compadre. George Galloway of Britain called him a ‘Spartacus.’ You are who you associate with and mourn for. A fitting end to a crushing, cowardly rule. I don’t hold much hope that his death will free Venezuela though. His second in command will probably succeed him and he is just as insane and just as ruthless as his mentor. May G-d have mercy on Venezuela.

All throughout the media I hear how Chavez was a champion of the underdog, the poor of Venezuela. Really? The only one Chavez championed was himself. He was rumored to be worth approximately 2 billion when he died. People are starving and dying in the streets of Venezuela, while this evil loon ransacked every dime he could from their coffers. Oil kept Chavez fat and sassy until death came knocking.

In fact, Venezuela sounds eerily like America these days. We are following in her Marxist footsteps in so many ways. Our unemployment rate (according to the sycophant Obama media) fell to 7.7% today. What an incredible manipulation (which will be revised in days no doubt) — a record 89,304,000 Americans are now not in the labor force, having given up during Obama’s Keynesian reign of terror — 296,000 fewer are employed since January. The real unemployment rate is closer to 25%, but the elite in power will never tell the truth. They’ll just keep spewing propaganda figuring we’ll believe anything they say. Just like the Venezuelans.

For instance… Before Chavez left this planet for a warmer climate, on paper, it showed that incomes were increasing in Venezuela. In reality, inflation decreased household income by 8.8%. But goods rose by 27% in costs. Gee, sounds a lot like what America is experiencing doesn’t it? Brought to you by American Marxists. Their currency has been downgraded several times as well – 5 times in fact. The last time devaluing it by a whopping 32%. He tripled their national deficit and their debt increased by 90% in his previous term. They are on the verge of bankruptcy and we are right behind them. He certainly enacted his redistributionist, welfare state-expanding, centrally planned economic agenda well, didn’t he?

Some facts on Chavez:

• He created worker-owned “cooperatives” to act as a substitute for corporations, which he relentlessly propped up with government funding.
• He started grocery stores that would deliberately sell food below market value so as to run capitalist alternatives out of business.
• Eventually, he set price controls on food.
• He seized land belonging to rich Venezuelans and redistributed it to poor ones.
• He nationalized telephone companies, electricity companies, cement production, food plants (even those owned by foreign entities), coffee plants, rice fields and banks.
• He pulled Venezuela out of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, accusing both entities of exploitation.
• He even seized control of the media.
• His slogan was: “Motherland, socialism or death.”

From Sultan Knish:

Chavez had swollen the ranks of Venezuela’s public employees to 2.5 million in a country where the 15-64 population numbered only 18 million. With 1 public employee to every 7 working adults, the entire mess was subsidized by oil exports and debt. When the price of oil fell, only debt was left.

Those public employees became Chavez’s campaign staff with no choice but to vote for him or see their positions wiped out to keep the economy from crashing. And they won him one last election.

The dead tyrant leaves behind the lowest GDP growth rate and highest inflation rate in Latin America. He leaves behind an economy where more than half the population depends on government benefits or government jobs. He leaves behind a giant pile of debt for the people and 2 billion dollars in misappropriated oil money for his heirs.

It seems to me that Obama has indeed turned America into Venezuela. But, it would seem, that Chavez was not Leftist enough for many of those supporting Obama in the US. Which portends very bad things that Obama and his foot soldiers have in store for the American people, as if we didn’t already know that.

And if that is not sobering enough, let’s move on to the ghoulish. I tweeted on this yesterday when I heard that Chavez’s body would be put on permanent display — just like Joseph Stalin. So, the people of Venezuela will be subjected to this ghastly reminder of repression forever. Sickening. The Castro-loving Commie just won’t stay dead. The only thing Chavez succeeded at was bringing the equality of crushing poverty to his people and yet he will lie in state for people to view — or else. Evil despots don’t die, they morph into martyrs and political tools for oppression.

People seem to have forgotten, that this so-called ‘peaceful Marxist’ came to power after two violent military coups. Over 300 people died so he could seize control. Bumps in the road, I’m sure. He then changed the constitution, eliminating the senate and extending his term. A revolt ensued. He then fired 18,000 workers and gave complete control to the unions which he himself controlled. Wait a minute… Deja vu – the feeling that you have been screwed by this Marxist before — only his name is Obama.

So, while a Venezuelan despot has gone to his richly deserved spot in Hades, our American Marxist government and elites mourn him. They have certainly emulated him and will keep doing so as they bring the lid down on America and attempt to finish her destruction. Can you smell a revolt brewing?

Francisco Gomez / Spanish Royal / EPA

Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mourn his death and gather for his funeral.

Two corrupt Dems head US Delegation to the Chavez funeral.  First up, Congressman Gregory Meeks who in 2011 was listed as one of the most corrupt members of Congress, making him the perfect choice. And the second man is none other than Congressman William Delahunt.  Massachusetts wanted bargain oil prices to help it through the winter. Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chávez wanted influence in Washington. Leave it to the Congressman from the Commonwealth and a Kennedy to close the deal.  So now the United States sent two corrupt Democrat Congressmen, who had dubious relationships with Chavez, as the American delegation to Chavez’s funeral.

The only question is why they decided to leave out Sean Penn.  But not to worry, the Reverend Jesse Jackson Jr. was there along with two dozen disreputable world leaders not only to bid farewell to the late Hugo Chavez at a lengthy, emotional funeral, but to speak. Rev. Jackson, the man who helped arrange the Obama marriage, portrayed the Venezuelan president as a hero of the poor, while pushing for the nation’s rapprochement with the United States. Jesse Jackson also compared Marxist Hugo Chavez to First 15 US Presidents.

"How do we measure a great leader? By how he treats the least of these," Jackson said in his eulogy, standing before Chavez’s flag-draped coffin at the military academy in Caracas. "Hugo fed the hungry. He lifted the poor. He raised their hopes. He helped them realize their dreams."  Really?  Maybe he should have done a little homework before going there, but as we have all learned… once you have drunk the Kool-Aid, facts don’t matter.  AskMarion~

Related:

Hugo Chavez Dies at Age 58: Cries out to Jesus on state TV

Technorati Tags: Venezuela,dictators,Hugo Chavez,Jesse Jackson,Reverend Jesse Jackson Jr.,Obamaland,connect the dots,Marxists,Progressives,watch the other hand,you be the judge

2012 Election Game On: Class vs. Crass… Hope vs. Nope

Video: The Tail of Two Leaders

Mac Lewis: The logic of the ad in one line: “If voters think on election day that Obama is the cool one, but Romney is the competent one, Obama will lose.”

Matt Lewis wrote Wednesday morning that Obama vs. Romney is starting to look a bit like a “Mac vs. PC” commercial. Here’s the RNC kinda sorta embracing that framework to make the point that what America has with The One is the policy equivalent of a Sad Mac.

Lewis:

Republicans, of course, will claim the contrast favors them — that Tuesday night demonstrated a serious candidate talking about serious issues — versus someone “slow-jamming” with a comedian (while the economy crumbles).

But it also reminds me that the Obama vs. Romney clash creates a PR/optics problem for Republicans: Policy aside, Obama seems cool — while Romney seems more like The Man. (This might not matter, however. Voters might decide they personally like Obama, but that they want a technocrat to fix the economy. Sometimes we need The Man!)

Brand images, though, often outlast political campaigns. And from a purely superficial standpoint, the GOP — especially if Romney makes a milquetoast running mate pick — risks reinforcing its image as your father’s party.  So the GOP V.P. pick could be a factor this election and if not for this election, it might reinforce a brand for the next time?!?

With a couple of events and a couple of speeches the 2012 Election focus was set and the race is on, all in one day.

While President Obama appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for some slow ‘jammon’ that ended up looking and sounding anything but presidential except to the (MSM) media Obamabots, Mitt Romney took the stage in New Hampshire and claimed his position as the presumptive GOP nominee after winning 5-primaries on Tuesday. That one move showed leadership and has changed the conversation.  Within 24-hours Gingrich announced that he was leaving the race, former GOP primary candidate endorsed Romney and the RNC announced that Mitt Romney was now their presumptive nominee unveiling their support and the support of many behind the scenes already working together to defeat Barack Obama, including with the Ron Paul Campaign though Paul has no plans of dropping out of the race..

Romney looked and sounded presidential creating an echo over the blogosphere and even among some mainstream media outlets that a presidential Romney made slow jammom Obama look anything but presidential.

Mitt Romney Kicked-Off His Presidential Campaign with the words “A better America begins tonight”.  Romney hit all right notes, said all the right things and sounded believably concerned.

Transcript of Romney’s “A Better America” Speech:

"Thank you Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York! And tonight I can say thank you, America. After 43 primaries and caucuses, many long days and more than a few long nights, I can say with confidence – and gratitude – that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility. And, together, we will win on November 6th!

We launched this campaign not far from here on a beautiful June day. It has been an extraordinarily journey.

Americans have always been eternal optimists. But over the last three and a half years, we have seen hopes and dreams diminished by false promises and weak leadership. Everywhere I go, Americans are tired of being tired, and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less.

For every single mom who feels heartbroken when she has to explain to her kids that she needs to take a second job … for grandparents who can’t afford the gas to visit their grandchildren … for the mom and dad who never thought they’d be on food stamps … for the small business owner desperately cutting back just to keep the doors open one more month – to all of the thousands of good and decent Americans I’ve met who want nothing more than a better chance, a fighting chance, to all of you, I have a simple message: Hold on a little longer. A better America begins tonight.

Tonight is the start of a new campaign to unite every American who knows in their heart that we can do better! The last few years have been the best that Barack Obama can do, but it’s not the best America can do!

Tonight is the beginning of the end of the disappointments of the Obama years and the start of a new and better chapter that we will write together.

This has already been a long campaign, but many Americans are just now beginning to focus on the choice before the country. In the days ahead, I look forward to spending time with many of you personally. I want to hear what’s on your mind, hear about your concerns, and learn about your families. I want to know what you think we can do to make this country better…and what you expect from your next President.

And I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. I’ll probably start out talking about my wonderful wife Ann – I usually do – and I’ll probably bore you with stories about our kids and grandkids. I’ll tell you about how much I love this country, where someone like my dad, who grew up poor and never graduated from college, could pursue his dreams and work his way up to running a great car company. Only in America could a man like my dad become governor of the state in which he once sold paint from the trunk of his car.

I’d say that you might have heard that I was successful in business. And that rumor is true. But you might not have heard that I became successful by helping start a business that grew from 10 people to hundreds of people. You might not have heard that our business helped start other businesses, like Staples and Sports Authority and a new steel mill and a learning center called Bright Horizons. And I’d tell you that not every business made it and there were good days and bad days, but every day was a lesson. And after 25 years, I know how to lead us out of this stagnant Obama economy and into a job-creating recovery!

Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?

Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?

If the answer were “yes” to those questions, then President Obama would be running for re-election based on his achievements…and rightly so. But because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions. That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time. But not here and not now. It’s still about the economy …and we’re not stupid.

People are hurting in America. And we know that something is wrong, terribly wrong with the direction of the country.

We know that this election is about the kind of America we will live in and the kind of America we will leave to future generations. When it comes to the character of America, President Obama and I have very different visions.

Government is at the center of his vision. It dispenses the benefits, borrows what it cannot take, and consumes a greater and greater share of the economy. With Obamacare fully installed, government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society.

This President is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars. He’s asking us to accept that Washington knows best – and can provide all.

We’ve already seen where this path leads. It erodes freedom. It deadens the entrepreneurial spirit. And it hurts the very people it’s supposed to help. Those who promise to spread the wealth around only ever succeed in spreading poverty. Other nations have chosen that path. It leads to chronic high unemployment, crushing debt, and stagnant wages.

I have a very different vision for America, and of our future. It is an America driven by freedom, where free people, pursuing happiness in their own unique ways, create free enterprises that employ more and more Americans. Because there are so many enterprises that are succeeding, the competition for hard-working, educated and skilled employees is intense, and so wages and salaries rise.

I see an America with a growing middle class, with rising standards of living. I see children even more successful than their parents - some successful even beyond their wildest dreams – and others congratulating them for their achievement, not attacking them for it.

This America is fundamentally fair. We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends’ businesses; we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next.

In the America I see, character and choices matter. And education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded. And poverty will be defeated, not with a government check, but with respect and achievement that is taught by parents, learned in school, and practiced in the workplace.

This is the America that was won for us by the nation’s Founders, and earned for us by the Greatest Generation. It is the America that has produced the most innovative, most productive, and the most powerful economy in the world.

As I look around at the millions of Americans without work, the graduates who can't get a job, the soldiers who return home to an unemployment line, it breaks my heart. This does not have to be. It is the result of failed leadership and of a faulty vision. We will restore the promise of America only if we restore the principles of freedom and opportunity that made America the greatest nation on earth.

Today, the hill before us is a little steep but we have always been a nation of big steppers. Many Americans have given up on this President but they haven’t ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves. Not on each other. And not on America.

In the days ahead, join me in the next step toward that destination of November 6th, when across America we can give a sigh of relief and know that the Promise of America has been kept. The dreamers can dream a little bigger, the help wanted signs can be dusted off, and we can start again.

And this time we’ll get it right. We’ll stop the days of apologizing for success at home and never again apologize for America abroad.

There was a time – not so long ago – when each of us could walk a little taller and stand a little straighter because we had a gift that no one else in the world shared. We were Americans. That meant something different to each of us but it meant something special to all of us. We knew it without question. And so did the world.

Those days are coming back. That’s our destiny.

We believe in America. We believe in ourselves. Our greatest days are still ahead. We are, after all, Americans!

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

To quote Jedediah Bila, “With this one speech, Romney changed the discussion from class warfare to a discussion of hope and choice.”

SuperPac American Crossroads also produced a new video entitled: “Cool” - After four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?  It is focused toward the young…

Meanwhile Obama looked foolish and inept appearing in one of the worst skits ever, demeaning his position and the office of presidency after having spent taxpayer money to campaign and to promote his new student loan program into an election issue.  But the problem with that is Obama’s record and that Romney agrees with Obama on helping students with their loan debt while the economy keeps them from getting jobs, making it a non-issue.

Under Obama:

• 1 in 2 recent college grads are jobless or underemployed
• 85% of recent college grads are moving back with their parents
• Student loan debt exceeds 1 Trillion Dollars

Breibart.com:

And now it seems that Obama’s Fallon appearance violated campaign law

Last night, President Obama appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s unwatchable show to “slow-jam the news.” By this, Fallon meant that Obama would read a campaign speech about student loans, Fallon would utter a few lines to back him up every so often, and his lead band singer would warble in support of Obama’s propaganda.

Only one problem, aside from the fact that this was possibly the worst “comedy” segment in the history of mankind: it violated campaign finance law.

The equal time rule states that if a licensee permits a person “who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station.”

There are exceptions to the rule: appearances on (1) a bona fide newscast, (2) a bona fide news interview, (3) a bona fide news documentary, or (4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events.

Only the second provision could be construed as saving NBC from giving Mitt Romney equal time. But this was not a bona fide news interview. In fact, it wasn’t an interview at all – no questions were asked, no answers were given. It was literally Obama reading a campaign speech over a guitar, a horn, a keyboard, and some drums.

Not only was this appearance in violation of equal time law, it was clearly an in-kind contribution by NBC to the Obama campaign. As the Federal Elections Commission states, “A donation of services is … considered an in-kind contribution.” Under applicable law, contribution of broadcast time is considered such a service. This was a campaign commercial for Obama, and the Obama campaign was not charged for it. A minute of network time can cost up to a couple million dollars; this segment ran a full five minutes. There is no doubt that Obama was given millions of dollars of free advertising time, and the Romney campaign should invoke all available law to make that clear.

NBC should be punished to the fullest extent of the law (because they are a repeating offender). Mitt Romney should be given equal time, and an equally sycophantic propaganda piece by Fallon. Obama should be ashamed of himself (though, of course, he has no capacity for shame).   Video HERE

Speaker of the House John Boehner also weighed in this week on Obama campaigning on the public dime.  Boehner said Obama misuses Air Force One for political trips and that he is now trying to make a political issue out of student loans, hitting swing states to make speeches without having to cover the cost for campaigning.  Using taxpayer dollars to fly to battleground states to make political points is 'pathetic, said Boehner.  Read more Here.

Of course violating campaign laws, ethics or tradition doesn’t seem to matter to Team Obama.  He has been campaigning and appearing at fundraisers on the taxpayer dime for months.  Yet, they had the audacity to announce this week that President Obama would be beginning his official campaign in about a month.  At some point the American people are going to get tired of being played for fools on top of watching their country being spent into bankruptcy.  As Mitt Romney said the other night, “It is still about the economy and we’re not stupid”

By Ask Marion~

Send This Letter to Your Congressman and Senator: 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget

This is a letter that Dr. Coburn sent to all of his Senate colleagues on the 27th:

July 27, 2011

9,000,000,000,000
Ways to Balance the Budget

Dear Colleague,

Nearly everyone in Washington agrees we must reduce the deficit, but few offer any specifics as to how to do it. Last week, I released a report, BACK IN BLACK, outlining thousands of detailed budget options within every federal department and nearly every major program that, if taken together, would result in savings of more than $9 trillion over the next decade.

I do not expect anyone to agree with everything recommended in this report, but I expect everyone will find things with which they agree. With negotiations stalemated, I wanted to bring your attention to some very simple commonsense ideas I believe most of us—and most Americans—regardless of party or ideology could support that would save at least $355 billion.

End Unemployment Payments to Millionaires
Savings: $186 million over ten years
Nearly 3,000 households with incomes of $1 million or more were paid a total of $18.6 million in unemployment insurance benefits in 2008. Those earning $1 million a year do not need and should not qualify for unemployment compensation.

Stop Payments to Dead People
Savings: Over $1 billion over ten years.
Washington sent over $1 billion to more than 250,000 deceased individuals over the past decade. The federal government paid for dead people’s prescriptions and wheelchairs, subsidized their farms, helped pay their rent, and even chipped in for their heating and air conditioning bills. Some of these payments were fraud, some were incompetence, and some were intentionally required by law. Congress should end payments to the dead and federal agencies should ensure beneficiaries and participants of government payments are, in fact, alive.

Eliminate Duplication
Savings: At least $50 billion over ten years
In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report examining just 34 missions of the federal government and identified hundreds of duplicative and overlapping programs costing more than $215 billion a year. These included 47 separate job training programs, 88 economic development programs, 82 teacher quality programs, and 56 financial literacy programs. “Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services,” GAO concluded. Another independent study identified at least 180 economic development programs within more than a dozen different agencies costing taxpayers about $17.9 billion annually. Duplication within the federal bureaucracy should be consolidated.

Eliminate Sweet Heart Deals for Government Contractors
Savings: At least $2 billion over ten years
The federal government pays over $500 billion annually to contractors. In 2009, $170 billion worth of contracts were awarded without competition. Competitive bidding for government contracts helps ensure the highest-quality services for the lowest cost, while no-bid contracts waste billions of dollars with little apparent benefit to anyone other than contractors. No bid contracts should be eliminated.

Collect Unpaid Taxes Owed by Federal Employees
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
Nearly 100,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes in 2008. These federal employees owe a total of $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS should collect these overdue taxes.

Reduce Congress’ Spending on Itself
Savings: $3.82 billion over ten years
Since 2001, Congress has boosted its own budget by 55 percent. At the same time, the average American wage increased by only 23 percent. In real dollars, the budget of the House and Senate has grown by more than $1 billion over the last decade. Congress must lead by example and do more with less. Congress’ spending on itself should be reduced by at least 15 percent.

Stop Overpaying Drug Companies
Savings: $480 million over ten years
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) overpays pharmaceutical companies nearly a million dollars a week. According to the Government Accountability Office, drug companies were overpaid $3.9 million in a single month! HRSA should be required to routinely monitor prices to ensure taxpayers are not being overcharged and take immediate corrective action to recoup any excess payments.

Reduce Unnecessary Government Printing
Savings: $4.9 billion over ten years
Federal agencies – excluding the Department of Defense – spend nearly $1.3 billion a year on routine office printing. A third of this printing is unnecessary, according to an independent analysis. Agencies should put an end to this wasteful habit and administrative accounts of each department should be reduced accordingly.

Eliminate Unnecessary Printing of Congressional Documents
Savings: $312.2 million
In the digital age, printed copies of Congressional reports and other documents are as likely to grace a landfill as a bookshelf. In 2010, nearly $100 million was allocated for Congressional Printing and Binding account. A representative of the Government Printing Office (GPO) recently testified, “70 percent of the GPO’s funds are used to digitize legislation, schedules and other federal records, while 30 percent is used to print hard copies.” Reducing the Congressional Printing account by 30 percent would put an end to the wasteful practice of printing and distributing congressional documents that are almost immediately thrown away. The documents would still be available online and users could decide whether or not to print hard copies.

Get Rid of Unneeded Federal Properties
Savings: $15 billion over ten years
The federal government has over 63,000 buildings that are underutilized and not utilized at all. This number has increased by more than 12,000 from only two years ago. It costs over $1.2 billion every year to operate these properties. The federal government should dispose of all excess properties within five years. According to the Obama Administration, at least $15 billion could be saved if the federal government gets rid of its unneeded properties.

End Subsidy for Ethanol Blending
Savings: $2 billion one time savings
Ethanol producers reap the benefits of a vast array of government assistance, including tax credits, grants, loans, loan guarantees, federally-directed markets, and a federal minimum usage mandate. The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit provides a 45-cent-per-gallon federal tax credit to producers who blend ethanol with gasoline. Ethanol-blended fuel is nearly a third less efficient than gasoline, has contributed to the increased price of corn, and can cause engine damage. Ethanol subsidies are outdated, duplicative, and have failed to meet the intended goals of greater energy independence with a cleaner fuel alternative. The ethanol tax credit should be eliminated immediately.

Reduce the Number of Limousines Owned by the Government
Savings: $115.5 million over ten years
In the past two years, the federal government’s limousine fleet has grown by 73 percent. The federal government had 238 limos in 2008 and that number reached 412 last year. The number of limos owned by the federal government should be reduced to its previous level.

Reduce Federal Vehicle Fleet
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
Federal agencies own or lease over 662,000 cars, vans, sport-utility vehicles, trucks, buses and other vehicles. Since 2006, the federal vehicle fleet has grown by five percent and the cost of maintaining and servicing those vehicles has grown over 25 percent, to $4.6 billion. These vehicles consume about a million gallons of fuel per day. The General Services Administration will purchase more than 100 more vehicles this year. Instead, the number of vehicles in the federal fleet should be reduced by at least 20 percent.

Reduce Junkets and Unnecessary Travel
Savings: $43.3 billion over ten years
The federal government spends $15 billion on travel every year. All travel that is not mission-critical should be ended.

Reduce Advertising by the Federal Government
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
The federal government spent almost $1 billion on advertising last year. While some advertising may be needed, much of it is wasteful and unnecessary and this amount should be cut in half.

Limit the Amount Spent to Host Government Conferences
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
The federal government spent at least $2 billion on conferences between 2000 and 2006. Some conferences may provide important venues for exchanging ideas or providing training. Others appear to be little more than government funded vacations at beachside resorts and other exotic destinations. Traveling to meetings and hosting conferences are, in large part, no longer necessary with the availability of teleconferencing. Total spending on conferences should not exceed $100 million annually and conferences should only be held when other options are not feasible.

Use Better Measure of Inflation to Determine Increases in Benefit Payments
Savings: Approximately $180 billion over ten years
Many government benefits are automatically increased for inflation every year, based on the consumer price index (CPI). For more than 15 years, many budget experts have agreed the current CPI mechanism outpaces actual inflationary growth, causing the cost of government programs to rise rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics developed a more accurate measure of inflation, known as Chained CPI, which over the last ten years has grown at a slightly slower rate than the current measure for CPI. Congress should adopt the recommendation of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to transition to Chained-CPI government wide to ensure this automatic spending increase is as accurate as possible to avoid uncontrolled automatic spending increases in federal programs.

Eliminate Hollywood Liaisons
Savings: $34.4 million over ten years
Many federal agencies have offices and programs to assist Hollywood movie producers and television execs, often with the goal of ensuring a positive portrayal of the federal government. The agencies have at least 14 employees costing $1.2 million. These should be eliminated.

Stop Purchasing Excess Land
Savings: $4.1 billion over ten years
The federal government has spent more than $430 million to purchase additional land since the start of the recent recession and more than $2.3 billion over the past decade. At the same time, the Department of the Interior maintenance backlog on public lands has surged to as high as $19.9 billion, resulting in serious risk to visitors and deteriorating conditions of important national treasures. The National Mall, for example, has been so neglected it has been called a national disgrace. Until the federal government can afford to take care of the land it already owns, it should be prohibited from purchasing additional land.

End Payments for Coal Cleanup When Projects Have Been Certified as Being Completed
Savings: $1.23 billion over ten years
The federal government continues to send funds intended for the cleanup up abandoned coal mines to several states and tribes that have already been certified as completing their work. The funds are unrestricted and have essentially become slush funds. These dollars should be used only for their intended purpose and directed to states with abandoned sites, with excess amounts should be returned.

Suspend the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress
Savings: $6 million over three years
Members of Congress typically receive an automatic pay raise every year. Congress voted to freeze the salary of its member for the past two years at $174,000. The pay for members of Congress should be frozen for at least three more years.

Get the Department of Defense Out of Education and the Grocery Store Business
Savings: $19 billion over ten years
The Department of Defense currently operates hundreds of grocery stores and dozens of elementary schools in the United States. These grocery stores are in the same communities that have Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and other choices for military personnel. Instead of paying our soldiers more money and allowing them to choose where to shop, we subsidize thousands of federal employees to work in grocery stores around the country. Similarly, the Department of Defense employs thousands of teachers in a unique school district called the Department of Defense Education Activity. Under the Pentagon’s management, taxpayers are spending more than $50,000 per student enrolled in these schools. The Pentagon should shut down its education bureaucracy, send much of this money to bolster local public schools, and return the rest for debt reduction.

Terminate HHS’s Community Economic Development Program
Savings: $38 million over ten years.
The mission of the Community Economic Development program (CED) duplicates 180 other government development programs, has a very low success rate, and does not fit within the mission or expertise of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to HHS’s most recent report to the Congress, only one out of five funded projects within the CED program were successful. Due to its lack of success, duplicative nature, and inappropriate placement within HHS, CED should be eliminated.

End Federal Subsidies to Wealthy Doctors and Hospitals for Health Information Technology
Savings: $15.6 billion over ten years.
The federal government mandates and subsidizes the use health information technology (IT) for doctors and hospitals, despite scant evidence doing so will lower costs. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the purchase of health IT by doctors and hospitals.

Stop Medicare Payments for Uncovered Services
Savings: $1.97 billion over ten years.
Medicare currently only pays for medically necessary chiropractic services, but a HHS Inspector General report found the program improperly spent $178 million on chiropractic services in 2006. Implementing and enforcing current policies, along with more careful reviews of documentation, could save taxpayers nearly $2 billion over a decade.
This list is just a handful of the savings options contained within BACK IN BLACK. I would encourage you to review the thousands of other recommendations. I would also be interested in hearing other debt reduction ideas you might have.

Sincerely,
Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
U.S. Senator

Happy Birthday Mr. President - WH (Valerie Jarrett): Americans Want Us To Move Forward…To Plan Obama’s B-Day Fundraiser!

So… Is it on or is it off?  U.S. media is keeping it all very hush hush, but the bets are that since the Grand Compromise bill has been signed that it is on!!  Guess we will find out~

Marilyn Monroe embarrassed President John F. Kennedy in front of the American people for his birthday in 1962.

Video:  Marilyn Monroe -  Happy Birthday Mr. President

For is 50th… Obama plans to insult the American people by having this lavish party for his 50th that will cost U.S. taxpayers (guesstimated) around $1.9 million when all is said and done… so after saddling us with another $2.5Trillion in debt he can simultaneously raise money, on our nickel) to be re-elected and do it to us again. What you didn’t get your invitation?  Well. you can take pride in the fact that you helped pay for it…

As Washington races to the finish line to solve the debt ceiling deadline, the president is still busy planning his birthday big money fundraising bash in Chicago on Wednesday. When asked if the president should postpone the party/fundraiser due to the country’s economic realities, WH advisor Valerie Jarrett said the American people want “us” to “move forward.” Advice to the White House, Americans may want to move forward, but with 9.2 percent unemployment that might be the next thing to tackle…not a fundraiser.

Andrea Mitchell: Do you think the president should go forward with his birthday celebration which is basically a fundraiser… Or should that be postponed given the economic realities?

Valerie Jarrett: I think what the American people want to see is for us to move this debate behind us and move forward.

Video:  Valarie Jarrett: American People Want The President To Fundraise

Source:  GOP.com 

Party Details from the UK…

Last updated at 11:27 AM on 1st August 2011

It was supposed to be the mother of all parties, now it may not happen at all.

President Obama's big 50th birthday is scheduled for August 3, the day after the debt talks deadline and the date that the U.S. had risked defaulting on its good faith and credit.

Despite the announcement of a deal on Sunday night, the champagne corks may not be popping in Chicago as doubts remain if the deal will actually make it through both houses of Congress.

Singing for the President? Jennifer Hudson was scheduled to join the bash at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom (Bummer she was one of my favorites!)

The party was planned for the Aragon Ballroom, which costs $40,000 to rent.

There is supposed to be a concert featuring jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and Jennifer Hudson, the star of Dreamgirls.

The entertainment was to be followed by a lavish dinner for couples giving $35,800 to Obama's campaign.

With the government scheduled to run out of money on Tuesday, an extravagant bash would hardly look good.

The plans are currently on hold, but senior White House officials are still saying the party would go forward only if the deficit negotiations and deadline to raise the debt limit ceiling have been resolved.

Booked to appear: Famed jazz pianist was said to providing some of the entertainment at the party

Glum: The President has said the birthday present he wants more than anything else is 'a debt-ceiling deal' (wrapped in special hidden goodies that we are already finding… only hours after the bill was passed by the Senate and signed by Obama)

An official said: 'The President will not attend the event in Chicago if negotiations are ongoing.'

Mr. Obama has already cancelled a series of campaign fundraisers to stay in Washington for the tense negotiations that have angered the U.S. public, worried financial markets and raised fears of a first-ever U.S. debt default.

The fundraisers would have brought in millions of dollars for the re-election war chest, the campaign official said.

The President cancelled a planned trip to California and Seattle, put off a fundraiser in New York

Mr. Obama's last campaign fundraiser was on June 30 in Pennsylvania.

He reported raising $86 million in the quarter ended on June 30, far eclipsing the money raised by any of the Republicans vying for their party's nomination to compete against him in the 2012 president election.

Asked what he most wanted for his birthday, Mr. Obama said 'a debt-ceiling deal.'

Obama’s Lavish Birthday Plans

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

Originally posted: July 16th, 2011

If America defaults on its debts come Aug. 2 -- as the Obama folks warn, absent a deal by then -- what will President Obama do on Aug. 3? Why, host a big birthday bash for himself, of course, to raise cash for his re-election.

That's his plan right now, anyway. (He turns 50 on Aug. 4.) Tickets for a private birthday dinner with the prez will go for as much as $35,800 a couple.

We, too, want to wish the president a joyous birthday. But how can anyone take seriously his threats of default -- and those of underlings like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner -- when Obama himself doesn't seem terribly concerned?

We, too, want to wish the president a joyous birthday. But how can anyone take seriously his threats of default -- and those of underlings like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner -- when Obama himself doesn't seem terribly concerned?

Indeed, the president and his fellow Democrats haven't seemed particularly worried about the nation's fiscal state for some time now:

* Obama has yet to produce any detailed proposal for a debt-ceiling deal, including what budget cuts he'd make. So what is it, exactly, that negotiators are supposed to agree on before Aug. 2?

* Since the president's $3.7 trillion baloney budget -- with its monstrous $9.5 trillion in deficits over 10 years -- was nixed in May by every voting Democrat and Republican in the Senate, he's yet to offer a new one.

* In 2010, House Dems failed their most basic responsibility: to pass a budget. It was Congress' first such failure in 36 years.

* House Republicans, by contrast, passed a long-range budget this year, addressing both short-term spending and long-term woes like Medicare. But the Democratic-controlled Senate voted that down -- without offering an alternative.

No wonder the warnings from Obama and Geithner have become more ominous: This week they said even Grandma might not get her Social Security check if no deal is reached by Aug. 2.

Their credibility is shot -- forcing them to heighten their threats.

Meanwhile, though, the prez has big plans for Default Day +1.

Enjoy your birthday, Mr. President.

Source:  NY Post  -  AFP/GETTY IMAGES  - Barack Obama

But Seniors… he might not be able to send out your social security checks.

• Obama not as old as he thinks
  POSTED JULY 15, 2011 AT 8:46 PM BY EDDIE SCARRY

  President Obama seems to have a little trouble keeping track of birthdays, even his own. During a press conference in late June he incorrectly identified his daughter Maliaas being 13 years old. She was 12 at the time and her birthday wasn’t for another five days.

  Then in another presser on Friday, Obama said he would be turning 50 “in a week.” Actually, he won’t hit his half-a-century mark for almost another three weeks, according to USA Today. His birthday is on Aug. 4.

  We hope, for his sake, his memory doesn’t fail him when it comes to his and Mrs. Obama’s anniversary. Just in case, it’s Oct. 3. 

• h/t Politico and Daily Thought Pad

Well… we didn’t default, but most people are very unhappy with ‘the deal’ still not resolved this morning… the day before Obama’s party most people feel that this extravagant party and fundraiser are a bit of slap in the face of the American people…. most of whom, now, plan not to vote for him.

At a time when many Americans can barely afford Burger King and a movie, Obama boasts of spending a billion dollars on his re-election campaign and a bundle (whatever the exact figure is) on a birthday party for himself.

Related:

When Will Obama Crack in Public?

NEW STUNNING AUDIO: AUTHOR RELEASES INTERVIEWS CAPTURING HOLLYWOOD’S DISDAIN FOR CONSERVATIVES INCLUDING SESAME STREET

Author Ben Shapiro is working to expose the Hollywood left’s purposeful attempts to promote a liberal political agenda through entertainment mediums.  As we reported yesterday, (See below) left-wing messages are being woven into popular television shows — from kids’ favorite Sesame Street to “must see TV” sitcoms like Friends. But as Shapiro’s new book  “Primetime Propaganda” demonstrates, that’s just the tip of the liberal iceberg.

In videos sent exclusively to The Blaze from Shapiro, more Hollywood liberals openly admit to how their political biases plague today’s entertainment industry.

Is there a literal “blacklist” against conservatives trying to find work in Hollywood?  House creator David Shore says yes:

Video:  Primetime Propaganda: Shore Says Hollywood Discriminates Against Conservatives

Marc Cherry, creator of ABC’s Desperate Housewives weaves a pro-gay agenda into his primetime soap:

Video: Primetime Propaganda: Cherry Pushes Gay Agenda on Desperate Housewives

George Schlatter, creator of Laugh-In, sounds off on conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck. (Hint: it’s not nice):

Video:  Primetime Propaganda: Schlatter Attacks Glenn Beck

In addition to these interview exclusives, the Hollywood Reporter has more:

[Friends co-creator Marta] Kauffman also acknowledges she “put together a staff of mostly liberal people,” which is another major point of Shapiro’s book: that conservatives aren’t welcome in Hollywood.

Maybe that’s because they’re “idiots” and have “medieval minds.” At least that’s what Soap and Golden Girls creator Susan Harris thinks of TV’s conservative critics.  However, the ranks of dumb right-wingers has dwindled, according to Harris, whose video has her saying: “At least, you know, we put Obama in office, and so people, I think, are getting – have gotten – a little bit smarter.”

Some of the videos have executives making rather obvious revelations, like when Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds talk about pacifist messages in M*A*S*H or when MacGyver producer Vin Di Bona says anti-gun messages were a recurring theme in that show.

But an additional video has Di Bona, who also created America’s Funniest Home Videos, becoming remarkably blunt about his approval of a lack of political diversity in Hollywood. When Shapiro asks what he thinks of conservative critics who say everyone in Hollywood is liberal, Di Bona responds: “I think it’s probably accurate, and I’m happy about it.”

Another video has Leonard Goldberg — who executive produces Blue Bloods for CBS and a few decades ago exec produced such hits as Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels and Starsky and Hutch — saying that liberalism in the TV industry is “100 percent dominant, and anyone who denies it is kidding, or not telling the truth.”  Shapiro asks if politics are a barrier to entry. “Absolutely,” Goldberg says.

When Shapiro tells Fred Pierce, the president of ABC in the 1980s who was instrumental in Disney’s acquisition of ESPN, that “It’s very difficult for people who are politically conservative to break in” to television, he responds: “I can’t argue that point.” Those who don’t lean left, he says, “don’t promote it. It stays underground.” …

In the book, subtitled “The true Hollywood story of how the left took over your TV,” Shapiro also tells anecdotes of bias against conservatives. One example is Dwight Schultz, best known for his roles as Murdock in The A-Team and Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The late Bruce Paltrow knew that Schultz was a fan of President Ronald Reagan. When Schultz showed up to audition for St. Elsewhere, a show Paltrow produced, to read for the part of Fiscus, Paltrow told him: “There’s not going to be a Reagan a**h*** on this show!” The part went to Howie Mandel.

IS SESAME STREET SPREADING LEFT-WING PROPAGANDA? EXEC ADMITS, YES

While the theme song to the kids show Sesame Street encourages people to ask how to get there, one author just finished an expose exploring what’s really in the popular show: left-wing propaganda.

Sesame Street, with its loveable and fuzzy characters, is really a mouthpiece for the left’s agenda. That’s the conclusion of author Ben Shapiro, who after interviewing hundreds of industry insiders found that many of Hollywood’s most popular shows, including the popular kids program, are inundated with secret political messages. And he got top executives to admit it.

Shapiro’s new book, “Primetime Propaganda”: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV,” according to it’s description “is the story—told in their own words—of how television has been used over the past sixty years by Hollywood writers, producers, actors, and executives to promote their liberal ideals, to push the envelope on social and political issues, and to shape America in their own leftist image.”

For example, Shapiro quotes Mike Dann, one of Sesame Street’s founding executives, saying it “was not made for the sophisticated or the middle class.” Using the premise, the team worked in all sorts of messages, including Grover breaking bread with a hippie and Oscar the grouch who was supposed to address “conflicts arising from racial and ethnic diversity.” Dann also admitted he used the program in the wake of 9/11 to highlight peaceful alternatives to war.

“Sesame Street tried to tackle divorce, tackled ‘peaceful conflict resolution’ in the aftermath of 9/11 and had [gay actor] Neil Patrick Harris on the show playing the subtly-named ‘fairy shoeperson’,” writes Shapiro, according to THR.

The news may not be surprising considering the left‘s recent use of the show’s cuddly character, Elmo. The furry, red puppet has been used to trumpet free internet, lament job loss, and even plug Michelle Obama’s child nutrition bill.

But the left-wing messages aren‘t limited to children’s programs. Adults are inundated, too. The Independent explains:

The TV series Friends undermined family values; Sesame Street taught ethnic minorities about civil disobedience; Happy Days had a subtle anti-Vietnam subtext; and the 1980s cop show MacGyver tried to persuade pistol-packing Americans that guns are bad.

Happy Days? Friends? Believe it. Shapiro even got Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman to own up to intentionally hiring liberals and sending a strong message to conservatives in a popular episode:

Among Shapiro’s most revelatory interviewees is Marta Kauffman, the co-creator of Friends, who recalls how she hired a “bunch of liberals” to run the programme to “put out there what we believe”. In 1999, she admitted casting the actress sister of Newt Gingrich, the prominent Republican, to play a preacher at a lesbian wedding because she wanted to annoy conservatives.

“When we did the lesbian wedding, we knew there was going to be some flack,” said Kauffman. “I have to say, when we cast Candice Gingrich as the minister of that wedding, there was a bit of a ‘fu** you’ in it to the right-wing, directly.”

So how did Shapiro get these executives to say such things on record. According to him, he took advantage of liberal stereotypes.

“There was a certain amount of stereotyping on their part in granting the interview,” he told the Independent. “Many probably assumed that with a name like Shapiro and a Harvard Law credential, there was no need to Google me: I would have to be a leftist. In Hollywood, talking to a Jew with a Harvard Law baseball cap is like talking to someone wearing an Obama pin.”

“I was shocked by the openness of the Hollywood crowd when it came to admitting anti-conservative discrimination inside the industry,” he told the paper. “They weren’t ashamed of it. In fact, some were actually proud of it.”

Source:  The Blaze

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