the things you believe you're seeing...

DCCC: Obama 'more aggressive in fighting al Qaeda' than Bush By Tony Romm - 12/30/09 01:37 PM ET Democratic strategists Wednesday asserted President Barack Obama "has been far more aggressive in fighting al Qaeda" than the previous administration . In an e-mail this afternoon to supporters -- which incidentally excoriated Republicans for politicizing the attempted bombing of Flight 253 -- the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) stressed it was President George W. Bush, not his successor, who relegated the fight against the terrorist network to the back burner by turning "its focus from al Qaeda to Iraq."

The editors of the NY Daily News are not happy with Dear Leader; The attempt to blow Northwest Flight 253 out of the air was planned as an attack on the United States and very nearly succeeded in accomplishing that horrific goal. The moment demanded inspiring, decisive presidential leadership. America waited four days for a glimmer. President Obama's initial response Monday was too long in coming, too cool in delivery and too removed from the extreme gravity of the plot... Before his first remarks on Monday, Obama had left a vacuum, and into that 76-hour empty space rushed Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, whose ineptitude made a mockery of her position and threw millions of fliers into continuing states of confusion. What the public was left with was a never-to-be-repeated case study in crisis mismanagement. It's time to get a grip, Mr. President. The attempted bombing occurred at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Christmas. When finally Obama spoke after the weekend, he vowed...

(CNN) -- On August 28, the Saudi Arabian deputy minister of interior, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, survived a bombing attack launched by an al Qaeda cell based in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor. Abdullah Hassan al Asiri, the would-be assassin, a Saudi who had fled to Yemen, posed as a militant willing to surrender personally to Prince Nayef. Because he leads Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism efforts against al Qaeda, the prince is a key target for the terrorist group. Al Asiri concealed the bomb, made of PETN, in his underwear, according to the official Saudi investigation.

What an i ncompetent fool ...this woman needs to be fired today!  Read this and then this ...and now AQ says "yeah it was us, morons!"

What an i ncompetent fool...this woman needs to be fired today!  Read this and then this ...and now AQ says "yeah it was us, morons!"

POLITICO has learned that Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he’s switching parties to become a Republican . According to two senior GOP aides familiar with the decision, the announcement will take place this afternoon in Griffith's district in northern Alabama. Griffith’s party switch comes on the eve of a pivotal congressional health care vote and will send a jolt through a Democratic House Caucus that has already been unnerved by the recent retirements of a handful of members who, like Griffith, hail from districts that offer prime pickup opportunities for the GOP in 2010.

The difference between strongly approve of 25% and strongly disapprove of 46% is how the Passion Index is arrived at.... The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21 That’s the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President ( see trends ).

An irate Nebraska doctor sends an open letter to Ben Nelson...read it here and here as well as the update at Michelle Malkin's site.

Libs are shocked ! But the striking thing is that Sarah Palin, after all the criticism that has been directed at her, finished tied for sixth place, respected by 13 percent of respondents, and Al Gore, after all the praise that has been directed at him, was in eighth place, respected by eight percent.

Nelson caves...hope he got more than Mary Landrieu; Sen. Ben Nelson to announce support for health-care bill By Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 19, 2009; 9:07 AM Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas. "We're there," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to announce the deal. Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with Nelson on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. But Nelson also secured other favors for his home state. Asked if he was prepared to support the bill, Nelson said, "Yeah."

The magic is O.V.E.R. !     India and China have taken a united stand and walked out of the climate summit as Copenhagen talks fail.     Tensions prevailed at the climate talks at Copenhagen today, as Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and China premier Wen Jiabao walked out of the summit along with their respective delegations, as talks failed. More from Hot Air ... Add Brazil to the walk-out parade too !

How's that smart diplomacy working out? It looks like the world is ignoring Dear Leader more and more... COPENHAGEN — A visibly angry Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet at China and other developing nations Friday, declaring that the time has come "not to talk but to act" on climate change. Emerging from a multinational meeting boycotted by Chinese Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao , Obama warned delegates that U.S. offers of funding for poor nations would remain on the table “if and only if” developing nations, including China, agreed to international monitoring of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Wow, that kinda sounds like a threat ...

It's right at the end....

Russia joins the ClimateGate fray and says that the data used to create the bogus warming was cherry-picked to only include 25% of the warmest  meteorological stations and ignored the rest because they didn't show the warming needed; The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country's territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations. The data of stations located in areas not listed in the Hadley Climate Research Unit Temperature UK (HadCRUT) survey often does not show any substantial warming in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The HadCRUT database includes specific stations providing incomplete d...

Way to go Barry ! Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme. An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed to The Times that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically, work on a neutron initiator. The technical document describes the use of a neutron source, uranium deuteride, which independent experts confirm has no possible civilian or military use other than in a nuclear weapon. Uranium deuteride is the material used in Pakistan’s bomb, from where Iran obtained its blueprint.

Oh my Lord! Who's hot for teacher? Looks like the other teacher. Two female Romance language instructors were tossed out of their Brooklyn high school after being caught "undressed" in an empty classroom, sources told the Daily News Tuesday. Students at James Madison High School in Midwood were watching a talent show in the auditorium while Alini Brito and Cindy Mauro were speaking the international language of love, sources said. A janitor stumbled on French teacher Mauro, 33, and Brito, 29, a married Spanish instructor, and tattled to school officials on Nov. 20. Both tenured teachers were removed from the classroom and sent to Education Department "rubber rooms" while they're investigated for misconduct, sources said. The girl at the end is clearly a future President;

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats are considering changing a proposed expansion of Medicare to address complaints from doctors and hospitals and defray costs for consumers, officials said Thursday, two days after party leaders hailed it as part of a breakthrough for health care. Under the plan, uninsured individuals ages 55 to 64 could purchase coverage under Medicare. The expansion is part of a compromise for dropping a full-blown national government-run insurance plan from the legislation that Democrats and the White House hope to push through the Senate by Christmas. The American Hospital Association and American Medical Association have both criticized the proposed Medicare expansion since it was announced Tuesday night, saying the program pays health care providers less than private insurance companies , and warning against increasing the number of patients. And its really just a road to a single-payer system according to Anthony Weiner ; Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., called i...

And Republicans within one point on their generic ballot ...

The Dalai Lama on Dear Leader: “I think if you are realistic, it may have been a little early but it doesn’t matter, I know Obama is a very able person. “Sometimes these individual persons rely on different advice from different people so like former President Bush junior, as a human being I really love him, really wonderful person, very honest, very truthful. “But I think due to his advisers’ views, some of his policies have been a disaster.”

Now this is a t rue shocker! Perhaps the greatest measure of Obama's declining support is that just 50% of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they'd rather have his predecessor. Given the horrendous approval ratings Bush showed during his final term that's somewhat of a surprise and an indication that voters are increasingly placing the blame on Obama for the country's difficulties instead of giving him space because of the tough situation he inherited. The closeness in the Obama/Bush numbers also has implications for the 2010 elections. Using the Bush card may not be particularly effective for Democrats anymore, which is good news generally for Republicans and especially ones like Rob Portman who are running for office and have close ties to the former President.

Sen. Harry Reid has a $1000+ a plate fund raiser to attend in New Orleans this weekend: And in that regard his desire for a weekend off is not so benevolent to other Senators and staffers. It turns out Reid has a 1,000 plus per plate fundraiser scheduled for Saturday in New Orleans, according to one local paper, which also reports that Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, a key swing moderate in the health care debate, will also be in attendance. But Reid will not escape the health debate even in the Big Easy; the paper reports that Tea Party activists who oppose helath reform are planning to picket the fundraiser.

I wish I could have a job where I am wrong every time and still get paid; New jobless claims rise more than expected to 474K December 10, 2009 WASHINGTON — The tally of newly laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose more than expected, after falling for five straight weeks. The Labor Department says initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000. That was above analysts’ expectations of 460,000 . A Labor Department analyst says claims were partly inflated by a surge following the Thanksgiving holiday week, when many state unemployment offices were closed. The number of people continuing to claim benefits fell by 303,000 to 5.16 million, the lowest level since February. The total unemployment benefit rolls have fallen in 11 of the past 12 weeks.

New low for Obama approval ratings and this gem; " Voters disapprove 52 percent to 38 percent of the health care reform proposal under consideration in Congress."

Al Gore in full blown denial or is he just a bald-faced liar ? Climategate: Gore falsifies the record Permalink Andrew Bolt Blog   Andrew Bolt Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 06:54pm   Al Gore has studied the Climategate emails with his typically rigorous eye and dismissed them as mere piffle : Q: How damaging to your argument was the disclosure of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University? A: To paraphrase Shakespeare, it’s sound and fury signifying nothing. I haven’t read all the e-mails, but the most recent one is more than 10 years old . These private exchanges between these scientists do not in any way cause any question about the scientific consensus.

Just read this and laugh!  Here's a sample of what was found in one of the CRU ClimateGage files called HARRY_READ_ME.txt,  "Read Me" files are typical files used for installation notes that a given to installers to assist with any problems or pre-work that may be needed; These presumably precise data are the backbone of climate science. Reading "HARRY_READ_ME.txt" it's clear the CRU's files were a mess. The programmer laments huge gaps in data, bug-filled programs and worries about all the guesswork he's doing. His comments suggest the problems go back years. The CRU at East Anglia University is considered by many as the world's leading climate research agency. Here's how CBSNews.com's Declan McCullagh describes its enormous impact on policymakers: "In global warming circles, the CRU wields outsize influence: It claims the world's largest temperature data set, and its work and mathematical models were incorporated into the ...

And does a fine job of it ... Congress May Probe Leaked Global Warming E-Mails Posted by Declan McCullagh (AP) A few days after leaked e-mail messages appeared on the Internet, the U.S. Congress may probe whether prominent scientists who are advocates of global warming theories misrepresented the truth about climate change. Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said on Monday the leaked correspondence suggested researchers "cooked the science to make this thing look as if the science was settled, when all the time of course we knew it was not," according to a transcript of a radio interview posted on his Web site. Aides for Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, are also looking into the disclosure. The leaked documents (see our previous coverage ) come from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in eastern England. In global warming circles, the CRU wields outsize influence: it claims the world's largest temperature data set, and its wo...

So of course the Senate is moving full speed ahead to pass it , in fact its so important that Dems are willing to be thrown out of office in next years mid-terms just to ensure that they take over 1/6 of the economy and your lives 94% of Americans are covered; Freshman Dem: Passing health care reform worth losing my seat Posted: November 22nd, 2009 From CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart Washington (CNN) – A freshman Democratic senator said Sunday that he will support his party’s efforts to pass health care reform legislation even if that means losing his seat in next year’s midterm elections. “If you get to the final point and you are a critical vote for health care reform and every piece of evidence tells you if you support the bill you will lose your job, would you cast the vote and lose your job?” CNN’s John King asked Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado on Sunday’s State of the Union. “Yes,” Bennet bluntly and simply replied. Bennet was appointed by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to r...

Many recent polls have shown Obama under 50%, Rasmussen , Zogby , Harris Interactive , Fox News Opinion Dynamics , Quinnipiac poll but the media has refused to report any those results because it wasn't an approved polling outfit like Gallup. Well now what will they do ? "Of the post-World War II presidents, Obama now is the fourth fastest to drop below the majority approval level, doing so in his 10th month on the job. Gerald Ford dropped below 50% approval during his third month in office, and Bill Clinton did so in his fourth month. Ronald Reagan, like Obama, also dropped below 50% in his 10th month in office, though Reagan's drop occurred a few days sooner in that month (Nov. 13-16, 1981) than did Obama's (Nov. 17-19, 2009)."

I've been saying for years that global warming was just a big hoax, not because I had some super secret knowledge or some inside contacts or because I was just super smart. I just thought it was a bunch of B.S. well it looks like it was all a bunch of B.S. just look here and here for the juicy and embarrassing details.

Dana Milbank s lams Obama's China trip by comparing his actions to, of all peoplem, President Geroge W. Bush and saying that Obama and Hu were interchangable; In China, Obama leaves more questions than he takes By Dana Milbank Thursday, November 19, 2009 Listening to President Obama and his Chinese counterpart this week, it was hard to tell who was Hu. One is the leader of a great democracy. The other is the head of a repressive regime. But as the two men faced reporters in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Obama deferred to the wishes of President Hu Jintao: They would not take questions. In lieu of this rite of freedom, the two leaders exchanged platitudes. "We reached agreement in many important fields," the communist leader assured everybody. "Our two governments have continued to move forward in a way that can bring even greater cooperation in the future," the democratic leader reciprocated. It was, to put it charitably, a low-key way of spreadin...

Imagine that ... What on earth was Sarah Palin thinking when she posed in a pair of teeny-tiny gym shorts for a photograph that ended up on the cover of Newsweek -- a cover she has called "sexist"? Perhaps she was thinking that her image would only appear in the magazine she was posing for, Runner's World, and nowhere else, at least not for months and months. If so, she had good reason -- since, as DailyFinance has learned, the photographer who shot the picture violated his contract by reselling them to Newsweek. That photographer, Brian Adams, could not immediately be reached, and his agent, Kelly Price, declined to comment, saying, "I keep all of my clients' business private." But a spokeswoman for Runner's World confirms that Adams's contract contained a clause stipulating that his photos of Palin would be under embargo for a period of one year following publication -- meaning until August 2010.

No wonder he doesn't want to answer any questions... O'BRIEN : ...to create energy, and it sounds to me like an evil plan by Lex Luthor to defeat Superman. Can you, can you tell me, is this a viable solution, geothermal energy? GORE: It definitely is, and it's a relatively new one. People think about geothermal energy - when they think about it at all - in terms of the hot water bubbling up in some places, but two kilometers or so down in most places there are these incredibly hot rocks, 'cause the interior of the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees, and the crust of the earth is hot ... For the record the Earth's core temperature is approximately 5000 degrees Celsius. What a blithering idiot. For God sakes the surface of the Sun is 6000 degrees Celsius.

EPA Employees Silenced for Criticizing Cap and Trade by William La Jeunesse  When Zabel and Williams released a video on the Internet expressing their concerns over the Obama administration’s plans to use a cap and trade program to fight climate change, they were told to keep it to themselves. Laurie Williams and husband Alan Zabel worked as lawyers for the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, in its San Francisco office for more than 20 years, and they know more about climate change than most politicians. But when the couple released a video on the Internet expressing their concerns over the Obama administration’s plans to use cap-and-trade legislation to fight climate change, they were told to keep it to themselves. Williams and Zabel oppose cap and trade -- a controversial government allowance program in which companies are issued emissions limits, or caps, which they can then trade -- as a means to fight climate ...

And I am sure all of the apologists will just ignore this poll ; President Barack Obama’s approval rating has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in polling by Quinnipiac University as U.S. voter discontent grows over the war in Afghanistan. Obama’s job approval rating fell to 48 percent in the Nov. 9-16 survey of registered voters nationwide by the Hamden, Connecticut-based university, with 42 percent polled saying they disapproved of the job he is doing. “In politics, symbols matter, and this is not a good symbol for the White House,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement. Obama’s approval rating was 59 percent in a Quinnipiac survey conducted Feb. 25 to March 2.

Fox News: Fair And Balanced? - Forbes.com Fox News: Fair And Balanced? S. Robert Lichter, 11.16.09, 12:01 AM EST A report suggests yes. Fox News has become embroiled in a nasty controversy over its ill treatment of President Obama. But are the charges true? What if I told you that Fox gave Obama his worst press and John McCain his best press of any network during last year's presidential election? If you work for the White House, you'd probably take this as proof that Fox is just a mouthpiece for the opposition. Now what if I told you that Fox had the most balanced coverage of any network during the same campaign? If you work for Fox, you'd probably say we told you so. But what if I told you that both scenarios are true? Read the whole thing...

Well this could be interesting... Recanvassing shows NY-23 race tightens even as Rep. Bill Owens is sworn into House seat By Mark Weiner / The Post-Standard November 12, 2009, 6:02AM Washington -- Conservative Doug Hoffman conceded the race in the 23rd Congressional District last week after receiving two pieces of grim news for his campaign: He was down 5,335 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted on election night, and he had barely won his stronghold in Oswego County. As it turns out, neither was true. But Hoffman’s concession -- based on snafus in Oswego County and elsewhere that left his vote undercounted -- set off a chain of events that echoed all the way to Washington, D.C., and helped secure passage of a historic health care reform bill. Democratic Rep. Bill Owens was quickly sworn into office on Friday, a day before the rare weekend vote in the House of Representatives. His support sealed his party’s narrow victory on the health care legislation. Now a recanvassing in th...

He doesn't come right out and say it, he never says anything specifically, but he comes damn close in an interview with Sulen Miller at ABC News ; "What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty."

From the WaPo ; Fort Hood suspect was reportedly e-mailing al-Qaeda supporter Nidal Hasan sent 10 to 20 messages to former Falls Church preacher, congressman says By Philip Rucker, Ellen Nakashima and Carrie Johnson Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 9, 2009 7:41 PM FORT HOOD, Tex. -- The Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here last week was in e-mail contact earlier this year with a radical cleric in Yemen who has decried what he calls America's war against Islam, a federal law enforcement official said Monday. U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted between 10 and 20 e-mails from Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshipped, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said later Monday. Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, Hoekstra said, but he described the responses as "innocent...

And its not good; Fort Hood gunman had told US military colleagues that infidels should have their throats cut So now what will the US media do.  Continue to promote the first case of pre-post-traumatic stress disorder?

Last night former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood. The Bushes instructed the commander of the mourning military base that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening. Fox News broke news of the visit this afternoon. Other sources said the former first couple spent about two hours meeting with the wounded, family and soldiers, talking quietly and at times hugging them as they did in private at other times of crisis such as post-9/11. Contrast this to Dear Leader's "remarks" on the mass murder at Fort Hood....

What a tool!  He gives a shout-out and babbles on about the conference he atteneded, oh and then decides to mention that 12 soldiers had just been murdered;

Well. not so much .... AP sources: Suicide eyed in Ky. census worker case By DEVLIN BARRETT and JEFFREY McMURRAY, Associated Press Writers Thu Nov 5, 3:55 pm ET WASHINGTON – Investigators probing the death of a Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest increasingly doubt he was killed because of his government job and are pursuing the possibility he committed suicide, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said no final conclusions have been made in the case. In recent weeks, however, investigators have grown more skeptical that 51-year-old Bill Sparkman died at the hands of someone angry at the federal government. The officials said investigators continue to look closely at suicide as a possible cause of Sparkman's death for a number of reasons. There were no defensive wounds on Sparkman's body, and whi...

From CNSNew.com ; When asked by CNSNews.com what specific part of the Constitution authorizes Congress to mandate that individuals must purchase health insurance, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) pointed to the part of the Constitution that he says authorizes the federal government to provide for the health, welfare and the defense of the country. In fact, the word health appears nowhere in the Constitution.

Oh really? GOP trying to discourage immigrants from responding to the census? Give me a break. It's clear this aimed at illegal immigrants. The word "illegal" seems to be missing from this AP article. Senate blocks census US-citizenship question By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press WASHINGTON  Senate Democrats have blocked a GOP attempt to require next year's census forms to ask people whether they are a U.S. citizen. The proposal by Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter was aimed at excluding immigrants from the population totals that are used to figure the number of congressional representatives for each state. Critics said Vitter's plan would discourage immigrants from responding to the census and would be hugely expensive. They also said that it's long been settled law that the apportionment of congressional seats is determined by the number of people living in each state, regardless of whether they are citizens. A separate survey already collects the ...

Where's Joe Wilson?  We need another outburts of "You Lie!"  From the Pelosi bill ; Reading Guide to the Pelosi Health Care Reform Bill Please read and forward the link to this note ( http://bit.ly/1rGrpW ) to your friends and family. This reading guide includes what we have uncovered in our initial reading of the Pelosi health reform legislation (H.R. 3962) introduced by House Democrats. Page 94 Section 202(c) prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies , beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government Page 110 Section 222(e) requires the use of federal dollars to fund abortions through the government-run health planand, if the Hyde Amendment were ever not renewed, would require the plan to fund elective abortions Page 111 Section 223 establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats (the Health Benefits Advisory Committee) to dictate the health plans that all individuals must purchase and would likely requi...