More here later on the handgrenade she just baked in her little socialist cake.
Mike
III
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Crony socialism strikes again.
Go here:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/goldman-fed-citi-getting-preferential-allotments-of-h1n1-vaccine.html
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/goldman-fed-citi-getting-preferential-allotments-of-h1n1-vaccine.html
Offered without comment.
Brought to my attention by Bob Wright. Offered without comment.
Mike
III
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/A-Disconnected-President.html
Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting
A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama.
By ROBERT A. GEORGE
Updated 2:56 PM CST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009
President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.
Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch at the event.
Did the president's team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on -- and the initial words coming out of their president's mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.
It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn't produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this? Congressional Democrats must wonder if a White House that has burdened them with a too-heavy policy agenda over the last year has a strong enough political operation to help push that agenda through.
If the president's communications apparatus can't inform -- and protect -- their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous consequences for that president's party and supporters.
All the president's men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday. And Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.
New York writer Robert A. George blogs at Ragged Thots.
LATER:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mike-bates/2009/11/06/obama-gives-shout-out-congressional-medal-honor-winner-who-isnt
Obama Gives Shout Out to 'Congressional Medal of Honor Winner' Who Isn't
By Mike Bates
November 6, 2009 - 01:18 ET
The Washington Post this afternoon reported "President Obama delivers remarks on Ft. Hood shooting at end of tribal leaders conference." The transcript begins:
SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
[*] OBAMA: Please, everybody, have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.
I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you.
Ah, the dangers of giving shout outs without a teleprompter. Crow is not a Medal of Honor recipient. As noted by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society:
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Crow's name is not included on the Society's Medal of Honor recipient list. He was, however, awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in August.
Obama, often described as "cerebral" by the mainstream media, should know the difference between the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Freedom, especially since he personally awarded the latter to Crow. Don't expect his blunder to receive wide coverage. It's not something he can blame George Bush for.
The Intolerable Act: Now here's a bit of irony. People are going to get killed over health care.
Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning hypocrisy, deception, or feigned ignorance) is a situation, literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity, discordance or unintended connection that goes beyond the most evident meaning. -- Wikipedia.
Folks,
Now here is some irony for you. People are going to get killed over whether the Feds have the right to force "health care" down our throats.
Mike
III
http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583
PELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail
JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Democrats’ Mandate Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail
Friday, November 06, 2009
Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”
Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1]
- - - - - - - - - -
“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2]
- - - - - - - - - -
“Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]
When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.
“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.
FBI given Hasan's name 6 months ago.
Apparently they were too busy spying on Sipsey Street.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6516302/Fort-Hood-shootings-FBI-given-gunmans-name-six-months-ago.html
Fort Hood shootings: FBI given gunman's name six months ago
The US Army major who killed 13 people in a shooting spree at America's biggest military base had come to the attention of the FBI six months earlier over possible links to extremist comments posted on the internet.
By Gordon Rayner and Nick Allen in Fort Hood, Texas
Published: 9:59PM GMT 06 Nov 2009
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a devout Muslim who was trying to buy his way out of the Army, was suspected of being the author of postings which compared suicide bombers to heroic soldiers who throw themselves onto grenades to save others.
It also emerged that Hasan, 39, had described the US Army as "the aggressor" in Iraq and Afghanistan and was resisting a planned deployment to Afghanistan, raising questions over whether the military missed warning signs which might have prevented the massacre.
Witnesses said Hasan shouted "Allahu akbar", Arabic for God is great, as he opened fire – a phrase commonly used by Islamic militant suicide bombers – though investigators said there was no evidence he had been recruited by al-Qaeda or other Islamic extremist organisations.
Hasan – who was initially thought to have been killed – is being kept alive on a ventilator after being shot four times by a civilian policewoman who was the first officer on the scene of the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Officer Kimberley Munley, whose actions were described as "amazing and aggressive", is one of 30 survivors who were shot by Hasan, of whom 28 remain in hospital.
Six months ago the FBI was alerted to postings by a blogger called Nidal Hasan on the Scribd website. The author wrote about a US soldier who had died smothering a grenade blast, saying: "Scholars have paralled (sic) this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers.
"If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory."
Law enforcement sources said that before the shooting no formal investigation had been launched into the internet postings and Hasan had not been confirmed as the author, but his apartment in Killeen, Texas, has now been searched and his computer seized.
"This is going to be a long and convoluted and messy investigation," the source said.
The gunman, a psychiatrist at the Darnall Army Medical Center on the base, whose job is to help soldiers deal with combat stress, was said by his family to be "mortified" at the prospect of being sent to Afghanistan, which they said would have been his "worst nightmare".
A neighbour who lived in the same apartment block as Hasan said he had told her he was due to leave for Afghanistan yesterday, just 24 hours after the shooting.
Patricia Villa said Hasan had given her frozen food, T-shirts, shelves, an air mattress, briefcases and a new copy of the Koran, and offered her $60 to clean his flat after he left. Investigators have not given details of whether Hasan had been due to leave so soon, or whether he was putting his affairs in order knowing he was about to go on the rampage.
Hasan, who prayed every day at his local mosque, had begun Thursday, as he did every day, by visiting a 7-eleven convenience store on the base to buy groceries. A CCTV image from the store showed him at 6.20am local time wearing a long white dishdasha and skull cap, the traditional Arab dress he often wore when off-duty.
"He looked normal," said the owner of the store. "He came in and bought coffee and hash browns."
Around 300 soldiers had assembled at the Soldier Readiness Center on the base, where they were to have inoculations before being sent to Afghanistan, when Hasan, dressed in his military uniform, entered at 1.30pm and opened fire at close range with two privately-owned handguns.
None of the soldiers were armed and some barricaded themselves into rooms off the main hall of the building while Hasan repeatedly reloaded his weapons and fired indiscriminately for 10 minutes, killing 12 soldiers and a civilian.
Survivors described how Hasan had "a very calm and measured approach" as he fired scores of rounds. Lt Gen Bob Cone, the base commander, said one soldier had told him "I made the mistake of moving and I was shot again". Others "would scramble to the ground and help each other out", he added.
Officer Munley and a colleague were on the scene three minutes after the first shots were fired, but it took several more minutes before they could stop Hasan as he carried on firing.
Once the gunman had been brought down, soldiers rushed to treat their comrades by ripping up their uniforms into makeshift bandages.
The dead included Private Michael Pearson, 21, from Chicago. His mother Sheryll said: "His father is still in shock and very angry. We're all very angry."
Captain Reis Ritz, 30, a physician working in the emergency room at Fort Hood when the dead and dying came in, said: "It was just unreal. When I heard there was a shooting I thought initially it might be a drill. But when I saw the wounds and the number coming in I realised what was happening.
"There were gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomens. They seemed like random shots all over the place. Some of the guys were unconscious, others were talking when they came in but we had to put them under," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"I was trying to resuscitate people, clearing airways, replacing blood, inserting chest tubes. It was frantic, chaotic but controlled. We are a close community and we wanted to do our best for these guys."
Nadar Hasan, a cousin of the gunman, said: "We are shocked and saddened by the terrible events at Fort Hood today. We send the families of the victims our most heartfelt sympathies. We are filled with grief for the families of today's victims. Our family loves America. We are proud of our country, and saddened by today's tragedy. The actions of our cousin are despicable and deplorable."
President Obama met FBI director Robert Mueller to discuss the investigation but said the motive was still uncertain.
"We don't know all the answers yet and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," said Mr Obama, who ordered flags to fly at half-mast on federal buildings across the country.
Ralph Peters on Fort Hood
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/fort_hood_xjP9yGrJN7gl7zdsJ31vnJ
Fort Hood's 9/11
Islamist terror strikes US again
by Ralph Peters, Colonel, United States Army, Retired.
Posted: 1:36 PM, November 6, 2009
On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting "Allahu Akbar!" committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.
What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Ft. Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of non-denominational shoplifting.
This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it’s an act of terror. Period.
When the terrorist posts anti-American hate-speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as "Palestinian" in a Muslim spouse-matching program, and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit — well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an "Islamist terrorist."
But the president won’t. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there’s no such thing as "Islamist terrorism" in ObamaWorld.
And the Army won’t. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America-haters is safer than calling terrorism "terrorism."
And the media won’t. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops — despite their crocodile tears.
Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan planned this terrorist attack and executed it in cold blood. The resulting massacre was the first tragedy. The second was that he wasn’t killed on the spot.
Hasan survived. Now the rest of us will have to foot his massive medical bills. Activist lawyers will get involved, claiming "harassment" drove him temporarily insane. There’ll be no end of trial delays. At best, taxpayer dollars will fund his prison lifestyle for decades to come, since our politically correct Army leadership wouldn’t dare pursue or carry out the death penalty.
Maj. Hasan will be a hero to Islamist terrorists abroad and their sympathizers here. While US Muslim organizations decry his acts publicly, Hasan will be praised privately. And he’ll have the last laugh.
But Hasan isn’t the sole guilty party. The US Army’s unforgivable political correctness is also to blame for the casualties at Ft. Hood.
Given the myriad warning signs, it’s appalling that no action was taken against a man apparently known to praise suicide bombers and openly damn US policy. But no officer in his chain of command, either at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at Ft. Hood, had the guts to take meaningful action against a dysfunctional soldier and an incompetent doctor.
Had Hasan been a Lutheran or a Methodist, he would’ve been gone with the simoon. But officers fear charges of discrimination when faced with misconduct among protected minorities.
Now 12 soldiers and a security guard lie dead. 31 soldiers were wounded, 28 of them seriously. If heads don’t roll in this maggot’s chain of command, the Army will have shamed itself beyond moral redemption.
There’s another important issue, too. How could the Army allow an obviously incompetent and dysfunctional psychiatrist to treat our troubled soldiers returning from war? An Islamist whacko is counseled for arguing with veterans who’ve been assigned to his care? And he’s not removed from duty? What planet does the Army live on?
For the first time since I joined the Army in 1976, I’m ashamed of its dereliction of duty. The chain of command protected a budding terrorist who was waving one red flag after another. Because it was safer for careers than doing something about him.
Get ready for the apologias. We’ve already heard from the terrorist’s family that "he’s a good American." In their world, maybe he is.
But when do we, the American public, knock off the PC nonsense?
A disgruntled Muslim soldier murdered his officers way back in 2003, in Kuwait, on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Recently? An American mullah shoots it out with the feds in Detroit. A Muslim fanatic attacks an Arkansas recruiting station. A Muslim media owner, after playing the peace card, beheads his wife. A Muslim father runs over his daughter because she’s becoming too Westernized.
Muslim terrorist wannabes are busted again and again. And we’re assured that "Islam’s a religion of peace."
I guarantee you that the Obama administration’s non-response to the Ft. Hood attack will mock the memory of our dead.
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