Komen Caves to the Abortion Lobby, Media Gets an Assist

Apparently making grants to Planned Parenthood is a lifetime commitment because Susan G Komen for the Cure just reversed their decision to continue grants to the leader in the abortion industry.  Cowards.  Here's their statement:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.
The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

If you thought their first decision had repercussions, wait until you see what comes out of this. The people who donated to Komen in the last couple of days because of their stand will be furious and will be demanding their money back. The people who were angered by the original decision still won't trust Komen and will not eagerly embrace them once again. They've just ticked off both sides of the abortion issue.

I think you're seeing the death throes of what used to be the most politically correct charity in the country. When October comes along I'll go out of my way to avoid buying any products with the pink ribbon or in any way support the organization.

You can thank the media for carrying Planned Parenthood's water on this issue.  Every story I saw made Planned Parenthood the victim and Komen an evil spawn of the Republican party.  Too bad Komen didn't have the courage of what we thought were their convictions.

I really hate pink ribbons.

"I Miss Iraq. I Miss My Gun. I Miss My War"

I ran across an interesting piece from Brian Mockenhaupt, a soldier who has been home from Iraq for a year:

A few months ago, I found a Web site loaded with pictures and videos from Iraq, the sort that usually aren't seen on the news. I watched insurgent snipers shoot American soldiers and car bombs disintegrate markets, accompanied by tinny music and loud, rhythmic chanting, the soundtrack of the propaganda campaigns. Video cameras focused on empty stretches of road, building anticipation. Humvees rolled into view and the explosions brought mushroom clouds of dirt and smoke and chunks of metal spinning through the air. Other videos and pictures showed insurgents shot dead while planting roadside bombs or killed in firefights and the remains of suicide bombers, people how they're not meant to be seen, no longer whole. The images sickened me, but their familiarity pulled me in, giving comfort, and I couldn't stop. I clicked through more frames, hungry for it. This must be what a shot of dope feels like after a long stretch of sobriety. Soothing and nauseating and colored by everything that has come before. My body tingled and my stomach ached, hollow. I stood on weak legs and walked into the kitchen to make dinner. I sliced half an onion before putting the knife down and watching slight tremors run through my hand. The shakiness lingered. I drank a beer. And as I leaned against this kitchen counter, in this house, in America, my life felt very foreign.

I've been home from Iraq for more than a year, long enough for my time there to become a memory best forgotten for those who worried every day that I was gone. I could see their relief when I returned. Life could continue, with futures not so uncertain. But in quiet moments, their relief brought me guilt. Maybe they assume I was as overjoyed to be home as they were to have me home. Maybe they assume if I could do it over, I never would have gone. And maybe I wouldn't have. But I miss Iraq. I miss the war. I miss war. And I have a very hard time understanding why.

Read the rest of it. A very compelling piece.

Where Are Those Separation of Church and State People When You Need Them?

At Christmas you couldn't swing a dead Winter Solstice Holiday Evergreen without hitting some freedom-from-religion type trying to ban a Nativity scene. Now we have the President trying to justify his tax hikes with out-of-context Bible verses and they're nowhere to be found:

What Would Jesus ... Deduct?

President Obama offered a new line of reasoning for hiking taxes on the rich on Thursday, saying at the National Prayer Breakfast that his policy proposals are shaped by his religious beliefs.

Obama said that as a person who has been "extraordinarily blessed," he is willing to give up some of the tax breaks he enjoys because doing so makes economic, and religious sense.

"For me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus's teaching that for unto whom much is given, much shall be required," Obama said, quoting the Gospel of Luke.

Ah, but does the verse say the state shall mandate how much shall be required? The verse refers to personal responsibility, but does not "bless" tax hikes.

Ace of Spades had a little fun with this on Twitter yesterday:

Breaking: Biden to be replaced as Vice President. Obama's new running mate? Jesus

David Axelrod commented on Jesus' sudden appearance on the Obama ticket: "It's a good get."

Jesus sayeth, "Solyndra at $6.00 per share is a bloomin' steal."

And Paul said, "Whence do you go, Jesus?" And Jesus answered, "brb, proppin' up the UAW."

And Jesus spake, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to track 2000 guns sold to Mexican drug cartels." Amen.

Jesus spake, "Blessed are the Chinese, for they shall inherit the future."

And Jesus looked, and wept, and cried, "Seriously? The secretary's paying a higher marginal rate than Warren Buffet? That's wack."

And Jesus said, "Michele, Barack and I are so excited to meet you over a dinner. Would you donate $3 to have your name put into a raffle?"

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not pay college loans."

"What profiteth a man if he should gain the world, yet lose Ohio?"

"Honor Me every Sabbath, in the ten months before a presidential election, when cameras bendeth towards you."

They're Passionate About Their Football in Egypt

If you think Super Bowl fans are fanatics, they got nothing on these guys:

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as supporters of Egypt’s biggest team, Al-Ahly, and thousands of revolutionary activists surrounded the interior ministry to protest against the worst footballing disaster in Egypt’s history.

The crowd, tens of thousand strong, called for the fall of the Army Council and for Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, de facto head of state, to be hanged.

Almost sounds like South Central LA after a Lakers championship.

Political Tweet of the Day

From moi:

Obama campaign has started "African-Americans for Obama". If I started "American-Americans for Not Obama" would that be racist?

Komen Sees a 100% Increase in Donations Following Decision to Drop Planned Parenthood

The media is playing up the fact that Planned Parenthood has picked up a bunch of donations after their funding was dropped by Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  I think that's fine because the more private donations they get the less of a case they have for any public funding from taxpayer dollars.

However, there are two sides to this issue and although Komen is being demonized throughout the media, people are showing their appreciation as well:

In the wake of this week’s announcement that Susan G. Komen for the Cure will no longer be awarding grants to Planned Parenthood, the breast cancer organization’s donations have gone up 100 percent in the last two days.

On a Thursday conference call Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of the Komen Foundation, told reporters that the organization is “singularly focused” on combating breast cancer, and that the politics of the decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood has been distracting from their mission.

Nevertheless, since cutting ties, Brinker announced that Komen’s donations have gone up in the last two days — by 100 percent.

“Our donations are up 100 percent in the past two days. With all of the emotion around these issues — which we understand, we get emotional too, we do this every single day of our lives,” Brinker said, explaining that they do not make decisions to be popular, they make them to fight cancer.

I still think it will be very interesting to see what happens when October comes around, the month that has been celebrated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month for many years now. Pink ribbons are everywhere - even on the White House. What will happen now that Komen is on the outs with the politically correct crowd? I can't wait to find out.

Political Video of the Day

This should be the only issue the GOP is pushing this election cycle:

Zoo to CareerBuilder.com: No More Monkey Business!

Chimps in business attire are stirring up a reaction from a Chicago zoo:

A Chicago zoo is mounting a campaign to stop a company from airing a Super Bowl Sunday commercial featuring mischievous suit-and-tie wearing chimpanzees playing tricks on their human co-worker, saying all that monkey business proves deadly for the endangered species.

Lincoln Park Zoo officials fear images of the frolicking chimps broadcast worldwide do little to help conservation efforts, inaccurately portraying the animals as unthreatened and even as cuddly and harmless pets.

"If people see them that way they are less likely to try and conserve them," Stephen Ross, assistant director of the zoo's Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, said of the commercial that shows chimps laughing at a 'Kick Me" sign on the human. "Individual chimps are being harmed and wild populations are being harmed by this frivolous use of an endangered species."

Ross said he and other animal welfare advocates have been complaining to CareerBuilder.com ever since the company started using chimps in Super Bowl commercials in 2005. But this year is different because he's armed with a Duke University study that he says supports his longtime claims: Commercialized chimps dressed as people — even when running up big banana daiquiri bar tabs — makes viewers less concerned about the plight of wild chimps.

I disagree. I couldn't possibly be less concerned about the plight of wild chimps. But that's just me.

If You Build It, But They Don't Want It, They Won't Come

Chevy Dolt sales aren't exactly flaming hot, though the cars often are:

General Motors extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt had its worst sales month since August, as negative publicity over fire risks hurt vehicles sales in January.

GM sold just 603 Volts - above its sales in January 2011, but far below GM's best-ever sales month in December, when GM sold 1,529 Volts.

Last week, GM North America President Mark Reuss said sales of the Volt have been hurt by bad publicity.

Reuss said bad publicity from the government's investigation into fire risks of post-crash Volts is "definitely a component" of the decline in sales.

GM sold about 7,700 in 2011, below GM's target of 10,000. GM abandoned its sales target of 45,000 for 2012 last month, saying it would match "supply to demand."

For some strange reason people don't want to buy electric cars that only get a handful of miles on a charge and then periodically burn up.  Maybe they should rename it the Chevy Phoenix...except it doesn't come back to life after it burns.

If You're A Republican Candidate You Better Write Your Own Campaign Songs

Because nobody else is going to let you use theirs:

Rapper K'Naan is upset that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used his song "Wavin' Flag" during his Florida primary victory speech.

In a statement, K'naan said Mr Romney's campaign did not seek approval to use the song and that he would not have granted permission if it had.

The Somali-born, Canadian-based rapper says he would happily grant President Barack Obama's campaign the use of the song.

First of all, I've never heard of this guy, but he's not the first to try and ban a Republican from using his music. Newt went through the same thing with another "artist".

For the record, if any GOP candidate wishes to use Crimson River Quartet music for their campaigns, have at it. Obama...not so much.

Political Quote of the Day

From Charles Krauthammer on Mitt Romney's "I'm not concerned about the very poor" statement:

“The idea that somehow we consign the poor to the safety net and we patch it, and dependency, is a liberal idea. It’s not our idea. And Romney is a guy who came late to his new ideology and he still can’t speak it very well.”

Problem is Romney is trying to speak conservative with a liberal accent.

Groundhog Day Tweet of the Day

From moi:

It's Groundhog Day and Obama saw his shadow which means 9 more months of demagoguery and fundraising trips at taxpayer expense.

2012 will be a long year, and not just because of the extra day in February.

Medical Story of the Day

Oops:

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer ordered the recall Tuesday of at least a million oral contractive packets because the pills might not be potent enough to prevent pregnancy.

The patients will recall those contraceptives too - every time they look at the baby.

Yesterday Trump Was Going to Endorse Newt. Today It Could Be Mitt. Tomorrow Paul??

They should hold this press conference at Circus Circus:

We reported, along with the New York Times and the Associated Press among others, last night that Donald Trump is expected to endorse Newt Gingrich, according to sources around his campaign. The Times went first with the news in terms of national outlets.

What a difference 12 hours makes - Trump's endorsement is not likely to go to Gingrich, others said, and may in fact go to Mitt Romney when he makes his announcement at 11:30 a.m.

Matt Drudge, who has a relationship with top Romney officials, this morning - linking to our Gingrich story - was the first to indicate it would be Romney.

The endorsement of Romney would come after serious lobbying from some supporters of the frontrunner, according to several sources.

It would also make more sense, since Trump typically tends to like to go a with a winner.

Some are wondering if there's more Vegas politics going on than GOP politics. Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Venetian and the Palazzo, both within view of the Trump Vegas hotel pictured above, backed Newt with big bucks. Perhaps Trump backing Romney is a bit of a slap at his Vegas competition.

Desperate Political Headline of the Day

From Fox Nation:

Obama Announces 2012 Launch Of 'African-Americans For Obama'

Is he really in such trouble that he has to create a special initiative to win over the final 5% of blacks that won't vote for him?  The other 95% are already locked in.

That makes as much sense as creating "Hollywood Morons for Obama".

Komen Drops Funding For Embryonic Stem Cell Research Too

Boy, they've really painted a target on themselves:

In addition to stopping funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Komen for the Cure has also quietly stopped funding embryonic stem cell research centers, another concern for pro-life advocates.

As LifeNews reported last July, Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer spent time examining Komen’s 990 Forms for the IRS for 2010 and she found that Komen has active relationships with at least five research groups or educational facilities that engage in embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of unborn children in their earliest days for stem cells that have yet to help any patients.

The return showed donations from Komen totaling $3.75 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, $4.5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center, $1 million to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, $1 million to the Society for Women’s Health Research, and $600,000 to Yale University. All of them have embryonic stem cell research programs.

On November 30, 2011, Komen quietly added a new statement to its web site stating that it does not support embryonic stem cell research but supports the kinds that do not involve the destruction of human life.

I applaud their efforts to move toward civilization, but boy are they going to be in for a rough ride now that they've strayed off the political correct plantation.

If You See Something, Say Something

That's the admonition from national security nanny Janet Napolitano and this guy took it pretty seriously:

A man claiming to be a Department of Defense agent allegedly pulled over a car with an Ontario, Canada license plate because he felt the driver must be a terrorist since the vehicle had a foreign license plate.

I think we should make him the head of the Border Patrol. Couldn't hurt.

Political Tweet of the Night

I think Joshua Trevino has called this one correctly:

Abortion is to Planned Parenthood what slavery was to the Confederacy: despite all else, the Cornerstone.

Follow the money.

Ignorant Boobs Declare War on Susan G. Komen For the Cure

I just couldn't resist giving that title to this story:

Moveon.org launched a campaign Wednesday against the “the world’s largest breast cancer organization” Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

“Susan G. Komen for the Cure just cut all its funding to Planned Parenthood for breast health screenings, bowing to anti-choice pressure and making breast health care suddenly inaccessible to many women,” the liberal group wrote in an email to supporters.

Komen announced Tuesday night that they will no longer be awarding the abortion provider Planned Parenthood with grants due to a new policy prohibiting Komen from giving to institutions under investigation by government bodies.

Planned Parenthood is currently facing a congressional investigation into whether taxpayer funds went toward abortions.

The Komen organization getting a real lesson in how to go from a beloved institution that gets its own month every year to a bigoted, hateful right-wing reactionary Nazi-wannabe collection of bitter clingers.  Welcome to the club!

It's clear from the TV news reports I've seen that the orders from Planned Parenthood headquarters is to portray their organization as a victim of a terrible crime and one that cannot survive without this funding (or "emergency" donations from idiots who support them).  The Los Angeles spokeswoman said this decision would have a "devastating effect on women's health", and then later in the report we were told the LA chapter gets no funding from Komen.  Nice scam you got there, kid.

Here's my question:  Will there be a giant pink ribbon on the White House this October?  That's been the pattern in the past during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the pink ribbon is a symbol for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure, and all those pink-labeled foods you see in the stores that time of the year make donations to that organization.  You can bet the White House will be under pressure from Planned Parenthood to ignore Breast Cancer Awareness Month...which by the way is fine with me.

I've often said how I oppose giving so much attention to one politically correct disease while other equally devastating illnesses are ignored.  Maybe this whole kerfuffle will finally restore some balance in the world.

Political Graphic of the Day

Gallup has released their state-by-state presidential approval ratings numbers and if Obama wins only those states in which he has a net positive rating, he's going to have a very bad night in November:

Of course, just because he's underwater in approval rating in a particular state doesn't mean that state still won't prefer him to whoever the GOP candidate turns out to be. And then there's also the margin of fraud which has to be considered in certain states.

Indiana Becomes a "Right to Work" State

And they'll flourish as a result:

Indiana's controversial right-to-work bill became state law Wednesday.

The state Senate voted 28-22 to pass the labor union bill as thousands of protesters packed Statehouse hallways shouting their disapproval.

Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill shortly thereafter without ceremony, making Indiana the 23rd state in the nation with such a law. Under right-to-work laws, companies can no longer negotiate a contract with a union that requires non-members to pay fees for representation. The House earlier passed the measure 54-44.

Daniels and other Republican supporters characterized the measure as needed for Indiana to attract jobs.

"Indiana will improve still further its recently earned reputation as one of America's best places to do business, and we will see more jobs and opportunity for our young people and for all those looking for a better life," the governor said in a statement released by his office.

I guarantee you that some governors in other Rust Belt states will be watching this pretty closely, and if business picks up in Indiana the way I expect it too, there will be a lot of pressure to enact those laws in their states too.

 This is America - it should be a "right to work" nation.

Environmental Headline of the Day

From the OC Register:

Onofre leak: Tiny radioactive escape possible

I guess that explains why I suddenly have a third eye. Gonna have to get new contacts.

Obama's Enemies List

Theodore Olson represents a company that has become enemy number one among many lefties, including and especially Obama:

How would you feel if aides to the president of the United States singled you out by name for attack, and if you were featured prominently in the president's re-election campaign as an enemy of the people?

What would you do if the White House engaged in derogatory speculative innuendo about the integrity of your tax returns? Suppose also that the president's surrogates and allies in the media regularly attacked you, sullied your reputation and questioned your integrity. On top of all of that, what if a leading member of the president's party in Congress demanded your appearance before a congressional committee this week so that you could be interrogated about the Keystone XL oil pipeline project in which you have repeatedly—and accurately—stated that you have no involvement?

Consider that all this is happening because you have been selected as an attractive political punching bag by the president's re-election team. This is precisely what has happened to Charles and David Koch, even though they are private citizens, and neither is a candidate for the president's or anyone else's office.

What Messrs. Koch do, in fact, is manage businesses that provide employment to more than 50,000 people in North America in legitimate, productive industries. They also give millions of dollars to medical researchers, hospitals and cultural institutions. Their biggest offense, apparently, is that they also contribute generously to nonprofit organizations that promote personal liberty and free enterprise, and some of those organizations oppose policies advocated by the president.

Read the rest at the link.

The Kochs are now used as a punching bag for every perceived wrong the left can come up with. Their names were featured prominently in the Wisconsin union protests and the Occupy Wall Street uprisings. They represent the best of what America has to offer, and that's what enrages the left. Like George Soros on the left, the Koch Brothers have used their resources to promote those things they feel strongly about, and yet Soros is never singled out for the same type of criticism because the socialist policies he supports are politically correct as far as the lefties are concerned.

The Koch Brothers are big enough to withstand all of this, but those who don't have their resources could be destroyed by this level of attention, and that's troubling for all of us.

Newt Comes In First Loser in Florida, Starts Planning His Inauguration

Perhaps a bit premature.  These headlines from the Daily Caller:

2.) NEWT GETS PANHANDLED: Comeback kid Romney victorious in Florida

3.) LADIES' MAN? Women abandon Gingrich this time, by 22-point margin

4.) ROCKET MAN? Gingrich loses Florida's Space Coast

5.) MAN OF HIS WORD: After Florida defeat, Newt makes eight first-day WH promises

It would be nice if Romney would adopt some of Newt's first day in office ideas. Those were pretty good.

Chris Matthews: No One Said Hateful Things About the President Until Obama Came Along

Chris Matthews, who is supposed to be a keen observer of all things political, apparently had his eyes closed for the eight years of the Bush Administration because he never saw any of the hateful things that were directed at Bush.  From the Daily Caller:

When is someone going to take Chris Matthews off the air for his own good? -- During a radio interview Tuesday promoting his book on JFK, Mathews spouted lunacy. TheDC's Jeff Poor reports:

 “On Tuesday’s broadcast of Washington, D.C. radio station WMAL’s “Morning Majority,” MSNBC ‘Hardball’ host Chris Matthews denied applying a double standard to his treatment of the tea party and ‘Occupy’ movements. He also claimed he never saw hate-speech protest signs directed at former President George W. Bush — only at President Obama. ‘There is a real level of national hatred of the president [Obama] that I hadn’t seen before, certainly not under Clinton, or under Dubya,’ Matthews said. ‘The hatred, the Hitler mustaches — I hadn’t seen that before.’”

Where does one begin? During W's tenure in the White House, the "George Bush is Hitler" industry was probably the most profitable in the country if you take into account its international export wing, with the possible -- and I do emphasize possible -- exception of the "George Bush is the Real Terrorist" industry. Yet somehow Chris Matthews missed that. Just like he has apparently missed the fact that the tea party has only been responsible for imagined violence --- mainly imagined by the voices in Chris Matthews and his fellow MSNBC hosts' heads -- while the "Occupy" movement has been responsible for enumerable examples of actual violence.

Senility doesn't announce itself with a trumpet fanfare, it just creeps in.

Mitt Won Across All Groups of Voters, and How Will a Wounded Gingrich Respond?

Some thoughts on both of those issues from the Morning Jolt:

Erick Erickson:

If I were a national Republican operative, I'd be very worried about tonight. If I were a Mitt Romney fan, I'd be ecstatic.

The Romney win in Florida was huge. He won the hispanic vote. He split tea party activists and evangelicals. He won where people live. Gingrich won the panhandle and largely tied in the few northern Florida population centers, but it was Romney's night.

He is on the way toward the nomination. The fat lady is warming up. But it is not a done deal yet. He still has a fractured base and lost the heart of the base. He has trouble with tea party activists and evangelicals though he roughly tied with Gingrich in capturing their support, and he has trouble with strong conservatives. Nonetheless, his get out the vote operation was a phenomenal success and the 15 to 1 advertising ratio in his favor clinched it for him. . . .

It is worth nothing that in the last week of the race only 0.1% of advertising was pro-Romney and roughly 70% was anti-Gingrich.

Our Robert Costa wonders if Romney's negative ads enraged Gingrich so much that Romney's top rival now has no other desire than vengeance:

Remember, in Florida, Team Romney didn't just knock Gingrich; they aired an ad that selectively documented the Georgian's past. Citing ethics allegations, they tarred Gingrich as a "disgraced" speaker, but they neglected to mention that Gingrich was later exonerated by the IRS.

The Sunshine State slams kept coming. Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac as a "historian," enough to sour any Florida homeowner, was complemented by 30-second spots calling Gingrich "chaotic" and "unreliable." On the stump, Romney called Gingrich a "pinball machine." At debates he called him an "influence peddler."

"When attacked, you have to respond," Romney explained earlier today. "It would be wonderful if campaigns were nothing but positive, but that's certainly not the reality."

One can argue whether those actions were "negative" or fair punches in a rough-and-tumble contest. But as the primary moves west and the field remains the same, the consequences of Romney's Florida brawl are unpredictable. 

If Romney isn't careful, a wounded, bloodied Gingrich may be more dangerous than a slow Gingrich fade.

Mitt certainly seems to have a better get out the vote effort than John McCain ever had, and that could really pay off in November when he has to battle the Obama effort that will be paid for and managed by the unions. Organization is a big deal in a national campaign and so far Romney seems to have a pretty good one.

Newt's path to the nomination is now pretty much gone and the only thing he has left is tearing down Romney.  That might make Romney a tougher candidate in the long run, but it also will undermine Romney's support with the conservative base, a group that's already troubled by his candidacy.  Romney did win the conservative vote in Florida, and maybe he's got more strength with them than we realize right now.

Political Quote of the Day

These are the kinds of mistakes Romney is going to have to stop making.  In an interview last night with CNN he gave the Dems a little more ammunition:

"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich.... I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."

Read in context it's not a terrible statement, but it won't be in context when it appears in anti-Romney ads. They'll only use the first sentence I put in bold above and Romney will be portrayed as a heartless evil rich guy.

He's got to learn to be more careful with his words. In this touchy-feely world we live in, saying the words "I don't care" or derivatives thereof (like "I'm not concerned") followed by just about anything else is sure to get the media and the left's undies in a wad.  To the left, caring is all that matters, not what you actually do.

Susan G. Komen For the Cure Cuts Off Funding to Planned Parenthood

I've expressed my dislike with how the whole "think pink" breast cancer thing has become completely overblown every October at the expense of other equally devastating diseases, but I have to give the Susan G. Komen For the Cure credit where due - they've cut off funding to Planned Parenthood:

Breast cancer charity giant Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Tuesday did not renew a grant to Planned Parenthood to fund breast exams. The move comes less than a year after Komen hired a new vice president, who has publicly stated her opposition to abortion, a service provided at some Planned Parenthood facilities.

Komen's new vice president, Karen Handel, had run for governor of Georgia in 2010 on an aggressively anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood platform and was endorsed by Sarah Palin because of her opposition to reproductive choice. Handel wrote in her campaign blog that she "do[es] not support the mission of Planned Parenthood."

"During my time as Chairman of Fulton County, there were federal and state pass-through grants that were awarded to Planned Parenthood for breast and cervical cancer screening, as well as a 'Healthy Babies Initiative,'" Handel wrote. "Since grants like these are from the state I'll eliminate them as your next Governor." She also wrote that she opposes stem cell research and supports crisis pregnancy centers, which are unregulated, Christian-run operations whose main mission is to convince pregnant women not to have abortions.

After Handel lost the gubernatorial primary, Susan G. Komen for the Cure named her to be its senior vice president in April 2011.

Over the past five years, the Komen organization has given Planned Parenthood health centers the funds to provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams to low-income and uninsured women. But now, amid pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers and organizations, Komen has made the decision to cut off hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to Planned Parenthood.

I've read on another site that the official reason for the cut-off is a new policy the organization has that says it will not make grants to organizations that are under congressional investigation. An investigations of Planned Parenthood was started in the House a number of months ago.

Another report says this cut-off of funding is permanent.  That pretty much negates any complaints or political pressure from the left.

Whatever the reason, it's the right call.

Robots Make Us Uncomfortable, and That Could Explain Romney

Interesting theory from The Atlantic:

The GOP front-runner looks just enough like the perfect picture of an American president to make us uncomfortable.

Mitt Romney is the storybook presidential candidate. He's successful, good-looking and a family man, to boot. Yet one of this political season's enduring puzzles has been the former governor's consistent inability to bond with voters. It's been suggested that Romney's robotic persona may be to blame -- and perhaps the analogy isn't far off. Much as people are repulsed and disturbed by automatons that mimic humans closely but imperfectly, Romney inexplicably turns voters off despite looking like the textbook image of an American president. Roboticists call this unsettling effect "the uncanny valley" -- and Romney is stuck deep at the bottom of it.

If the past year's media coverage of Romney tells us anything, it's that the electorate is attempting to reconcile conflicting impressions of the man. Romney is defined by two, now-familiar narratives. One focuses on the candidate's naturally presidential demeanor. The other examines his decidedly unnatural comportment in the presence of ordinary people. For the most part, Team Romney has successfully ignored the tension arising from these contradictory signals. But the style problem is one they'll have to face sooner or later -- particularly if Romney wins the GOP nomination, as he trails Obama on likeability and in fact tends to become less liked the more exposure he gets.

There's more at the link.

I watched some of Romney's victory speech in Florida, and although the message was pretty good, the presentation just makes me cringe. It reminds me of a guy who is telling me what he thinks I want to hear, and is desperately trying to emote the way the speech coach and focus group told him he should. He may be completely sincere, but it just doesn't come off that way. I don't know how you fix that.

"Soul Train" Creator Don Cornelius Found Dead of Apparent Suicide

News just breaking in Los Angeles that "Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius was found around 4am this morning in his Sherman Oaks home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 75.

California Will Go Bust in March

Too bad many people won't be paying their state taxes until April:

California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today.

The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June.

But Chiang said additional cash management solutions are needed because state tax revenues are $2.6 billion less than what Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers assumed in their optimistic budget last year. Meanwhile, Chiang said, the state is spending $2.6 billion more than state leaders planned on.

The Assembly budget committee approved a bill today that would enable $865 million of borrowing from existing state accounts, Senate Bill 95. Chiang, after consultation with the Department of Finance and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, is also seeking about $2.4 billion in delayed payments to universities, counties and Medi-Cal, as well as additional borrowing from outside investors.

So far the sum total of Gov. Moonbeam's revenue plan is to get voters to agree to raise their own taxes. In politics we call that idea "dead on arrival".

How Did Romney Win and Gingrich Lose in Florida?

Byron York does the analysis:

Coming off a decisive loss to Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, Mitt Romney needed to do three things to win the Florida primary: 1) attack Gingrich with a level of ferocity not yet seen in the already-contentious Republican presidential campaign; 2) raise the level of his performance in debate; and 3) improve his on-the-stump message to give voters more substance and fewer platitudes.

For his part, Gingrich had two must-dos: 1) deal with Romney's attacks in a calmer, more seasoned way than Gingrich handled the last Romney barrage, during the campaign in Iowa; and 2) keep up the solid message he rode to victory in South Carolina.

Over the past week in Florida, Romney did nearly everything right; his ads hit hard and his debate performance was dominating, even if he improved only marginally on the stump. And Gingrich did nearly everything wrong. The result was a decisive 15-point victory for Romney, who now has two primary victories to Gingrich's one.

Read the rest of it here.  I think the Romney train has left the station and is picking up speed.  I doubt Gingrich will have many more good days.

Rich Lowry also has some thoughts on the subject worth reading.

CHP Photo Leak Costs Taxpayers $2.4 Million

One of the most searched stories I've ever done came as a result of an automobile accident on Halloween day, 2006, when a Porsche driven by an 18-year old crashed at very high speed into a toll booth.  CHP employees leaked grisly photos from the accident which found their way onto the internet and precipitated a wave of cyber bullying and additional pain for the family.  I've done several posts on the subject, including the fact that most of the people who find my post via Google are usually trying to find the grisly photos (which I've never run or linked to), and now there's been a resolution in the case against the CHP:

Ending a 4½-year court battle that rewrote state law, a Ladera Ranch family tormented by grisly accident photos of their daughter on the Internet has settled a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol for leaking images that went viral worldwide.

The CHP agreed to pay the family of Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras $2.375 million Friday after a judge ordered the two sides to talk ahead of a jury trial scheduled for March, CHP spokesman Fran Clader said.

The deal puts an end to an emotionally charged legal drama waged by Lesli and Christos Catsouras on behalf of their daughter, Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras.

Nikki's horribly disfigured remains are permanently on display on hundreds of websites after an Oct. 31, 2006, crash that left the 18-year-old nearly decapitated.

On top of the grief of losing the eldest of their four daughters, Lesli and Christos Catsouras say they and their three surviving daughters have had to endure a never-ending nightmare of knowing that a click of a mouse can unknowingly bring up ghastly images of Nikki on their computer screen.

"The family was compensated for the emotional pain and suffering associated with the release of the photos," Catsouras family attorney Keith Bremer said. "The CHP came to the table with significant funds in an effort to resolve this case and remove any chances of a monumental verdict."

This case has basically changed the law as it pertains to photos of a deceased person who is not considered a celebrity or someone whose likeness after death would have some particular value. Unfortunately, the internet makes is possible to spread images far and wide very quickly, and makes them equally hard to get rid of once they're out there. The grisly photos in question are still being put on websites and that's a shame.

Professional law enforcement needs to be more careful with the images they take of crime and accident scenes, and I'm sure this case will have an impact.

Musical Chairs in Florida

First of all, it looks like Mitt Romney has trounced Newt Gingrich and everyone else in Florida.  As I write this I'm listening to Romney's victory speech.  The message is good, but I don't know if I buy the delivery, or how the rest of America will take him. I tweeted this a moment ago:

Dear GOP: You better hope Romney beats Obama or conservatives are going to have their own party in 2016.

In other Florida news, I reported recently how redistricting was pushing more Democrats into Allen West's district and endangering the one-term congressman.  West has apparently decided not to sit back and let that happen, and several congressmen are going to be moving seats.  This headline sort of explains it:

Allen West moves North, Tom Rooney moves West, Adam Hasner to CD22

West will be moving to a newly created district with a better GOP voter mix, and the other guys are making similar moves to better ensure their futures.  I hope it works.  It would be a shame to lose West or any of the other GOP congressmen.

The Teddy Memorial

No, not a memorial to skimpy women's nightwear (though now that I think about it, that might be appropriate in this case), but a memorial to the corpulent late Massachusetts senator:

The Kennedy family transferred ownership of the main home in their compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on Monday. The institute will use the 9,055-square-foot waterfront home for educational seminars and will create a plan to allow limited visits by the public, according to a statement. The Kennedy family, which still owns other homes in the compound, will continue to use the property on a limited basis.

I hope they use this picture somewhere.

If they're going to do this right they need to park a partially submerged 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 in the surf.

Weekly KHND Interview Podcast/Video

Here's the video/podcast of this morning's radio interview on KHND Radio.  My part starts at 20:50.

The Catholics Will Get Their New Big Glass Church

The Crystal Cathedral is changing hands:

A last-minute attempt to block the sale of the Crystal Cathedral failed Monday.

Cathedral insiders asserted that the congregation has a 99-year lease on the landmark Garden Grove church, and they refused to give up the lease to allow a court-ordered sale to go forward.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kwan ordered the $57.5 million sale of the church to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to proceed.

The sale probably will close in the next several days. The diocese has promised that the congregation can continue to use the cathedral for three years before it becomes the diocese's spiritual home.

During an emergency hearing, no one from the congregation was able to prove that the 99-year lease exists.

The dwindling congregation will have to find someplace else to go in three years. My guess is there won't be many of them left by then.

It's quite a facility, but I doubt the Catholics will let us sing there the way the old church did way back in 2002.

Sports Video of the Day

Hasn't this guy ever heard of the laws of physics?  And how do you practice something like this without having a several hundred pound snowmobile land on you numerous times?  Amazing.

Education Cartoon of the Day

I remember some of my teachers had very creative hall passes, but none like this:

If Newt and Mitt Are Unelectable, Obama Is Even Less So

Could we have a presidential election in which nobody wins?  Of course that won't happen, but none of the candidates from either party can be considered electable.  Both Mitt and Newt have their problems, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean Obama gets a free ride back to the White House.  Real Clear Politics looks at Obama's electability:

It’s understandable that the focus would be on Republican candidates in the midst of a GOP primary. But we shouldn’t forget that the general election -- like all incumbent elections -- will largely be a referendum on Barack Obama. And, under current conditions, Obama is every bit as unelectable as the Republicans supposedly are. Consider:

1) Obama is still unpopular. Almost all models of presidential elections examine presidential approval ratings (very few use challenger favorability, incidentally), as presidents rarely win many votes of those who disapprove of their performance in office. In other words, Obama probably needs to be pretty close to 50 percent approval on Election Day to secure re-election. (In 2004, George W. Bush was at 49.7 percent in the RCP Average on Election Day.)

As of this writing, Obama’s job approval in the RCP Average is 46.8 percent. For the last month, his job approval in Gallup has bounced around between 42 percent and 46 percent, averaging 44.7 percent.

To put this in perspective, on Election Day 2010, his approval was 45.6 percent in the RCP Average and 44 percent in Gallup. In other words, his rating is roughly where it was when Democrats suffered their worst midterm drubbing since 1938....

2) The economy is still a millstone. As I noted above, there has been some good economic news lately. But the flip side of this is that we’ve heard it before: Late 2010 and early 2011 were filled with bullish reports on the economy, as was early 2010 (remember “Recovery Summer”?).

Just take a look at the previous post on the projected unemployment rates for the next couple of years and you'll see why Obama has an uphill fight to hold his job.

Read the rest of it at the link.

Today's Chris Christie Lesson in Government

Sometimes you gotta call 'em as you see 'em:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lashed out at a fellow Garden State politician Monday, calling an openly gay state legislator a “numbnuts” in response to the lawmaker labeling him a racist last week.

A visibly perturbed Christie made the comment during a news conference on Monday, reported the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

It all started last week when Christie called for a voter referendum on gay marriage.

“I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South,” Christie said.

Those comments upset Democratic assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who responded last week by saying, “Govs. Lester Maddox and George Wallace would have found allies in Chris Christie over efforts by the Justice Department to end segregation in the South.”

On Monday, Christie called Gusciora’s words “transparently political.”

“You have numbnuts like Reed Gusciora, who put out a statement, you know, comparing me George Wallace and Lester Maddox.”

That's exactly how every politician should respond to Democrats who play the race card - call them idiots (or numbnuts). The more the race card is slapped back like this the less likely the left will attempt to use it.

KHND Interview Coming Up at 8:37 AM PST

I'll be going live on KHND radio at about 8:37 am PST.  You can listen along to the live broadcast via their webcam stream at the website.  If you miss the live broadcast I'll post the podcast later when it becomes available.

Unemployment Will Stay Above 8% For 2012, Over 9% in 2013

From Mark Knoller:

New projections from Congressional Budget Office this morning: national unemployment rate stays above 8% this year & next.

CBO projects unemployment decline "to around 7 percent by the end of 2015, before dropping to near 5½ percent by the end of 2017."

And from Jim Pethokoukis:

Recovery, RIP | CBO: Unemployment will average 8.8% in 2012, 9.1% in 2013; GDP will average 2.2% this year, 1.0% in 2013

Key CBO conclusion: Only 1/3 of the decline in labor force participation rate is due to demographics. The rest due to downturn

And from MelissaTweets:

We have a profound unemployment crisis, massive debt, and no leadership. Why would consumers lack confidence?

No president has ever been reelected with unemployment above 7.2%, but that doesn't mean the GOP can't screw it up enough that Obama can win even with 8%+ unemployment rates.

And don't underestimate Obama's ability to discourage enough workers to leave the job force and cause the unemployment rate to drop further than expected.

The CBO's projections can be found here.

Florida Primary Today

Romney looks like he's headed to a winner-take-all victory in Florida today:

PPP's second day of tracking in Florida finds little change in the state of the race. Mitt Romney leads with 39% to 32% for Newt Gingrich with Rick Santorum at 14% and Ron Paul at 11%. Romney and Santorum are both down a single point from Saturday's polling while Paul has gained 2 points and Gingrich has stayed in place.

The reason we don't find Gingrich getting blown out by a double digit margin in Florida is that he's winning a lot of the same groups he did in South Carolina. He's up 37-33 with Evangelicals, 40-33 with Tea Partiers, and 36-29 with voters who describe themselves as "very conservative." The problem for him is that he's not winning those groups by the same kinds of margins that he did in the Palmetto State.

Romney continues to have a large lead in the bank in Florida. 34% of our respondents said they'd already voted and with those folks he has a 45-33 lead. That puts Gingrich in a position where he'd have to not only win the election day vote, but win it by 6 or 7 points to upset Romney in the state. The kind of reversal necessary to make that happen seems unlikely to occur in the next 48 hours.

This is why I don't like early voting. People who vote two or three weeks ahead of the election are completely immune to any news developments that occur in those final days and I don't think it helps the democratic process.  There have probably been two or three debates since some of those people voted, plus various news developments that may have changed some minds.

Political Photo of the Day

This is simply disturbing - Willard Fabio (from Political Clown Parade):

Shocker: California Teacher's Association Backs Higher Taxes

Of course I'm being satirical with that headline, but the way it was reported Monday night on the local news you'd think this was a major victory for Gov. Moonbeam.  If Jerry Brown reinstated slavery the CTA would endorse his idea on the basis that the "slaves will finally get the educational opportunities they so desperately need.":

The California Teachers Association officially agreed Sunday to back Gov. Jerry Brown's multibillion-dollar tax plan, which should provide the governor hefty financial support for his fall campaign.

The union represents 325,000 teachers and education workers, and it is a heavy hitter in state politics. Brown is gathering signatures for a November initiative to raise sales taxes by a half-cent and income taxes on high-income earners. He has structured his budget so schools would face a $2.4 billion program cut in 2012-13 if voters reject his proposal, which he says is equal to three weeks off the school year.

The Democratic governor now has support from the state's two most powerful public employee unions, the CTA and the Service Employees International Union State Council. The SEIU has not made its support public, but CTA President Dean E. Vogel told his members on Saturday that the "SEIU State Council has already taken a support position," according to a text of his speech.

Major state-funded unions will always support higher taxes and will never support a reduction in the size of government at any level.

Political Headline of the Day

From Sister Toldjah:

FAIL: Va. state senator (D) proposes adding “mandatory rectal exams for men” to ultrasound bill

Isn't Obama already giving us all rectal exams?

Ferris Bueller Rides Again

Okay, this is funny.  It's Honda's new Super Bowl ad:

Dems Overtake GOP in Generic Congressional Ballot

For the first time in a long time:

President Obama might be right: Nancy Pelosi could become House speaker again.

A new Rasmussen poll just released finds that Democrats lead Republicans on the generic congressional ballot for roughly the first time in two-and-a-half years, a period that brought the nation the Tea Party and the overwhelming GOP victory in the 2010 midterm elections.

According to the new poll, 41 percent of likely voters would choose the Democrat in their district's congressional race, while 40 percent would go for the generic Republican.

Said Rasmussen, "Since the week of June 15, 2009, Republicans have led on the ballot every week but one, leading by as much as 12 points and as little as one. The last time the Democrats earned this much support was when the two parties were tied at 41% each in mid-November."

Of course, the approval ratings of both House parties is dismally low, but the switch to the Democrats in the generic ballot is a possible sign that voters might be souring on the Republicans who fought Obama over spending last year, led by the new Tea Party class.

I think there may be buyer's remorse, but not for the reason stated in the article. Some may object to the GOP fighting Obama, but what did those people think they were getting when they elected so many Republicans? I think the buyer's remorse, if any, is coming from people who expected much, much more out of the new GOP congress only to see it stymied by its own leadership. The GOP failed to listen to the voters and now they're paying the price in the polls.

GOP Voter Question of the Day: "Why Do We Have So Many Squishes?"

Ben Domenech interviewed a Florida voter, a former detective who is now a retired stay-at-home mom.  She never used to be very politically engaged, but after the 2008 election and the passage of Obamacare she became very engaged.  What she has to say about 2010 and forward should be very concerning to the GOP:

"2010 was a real turning point for me. I watched the midterm election results as we won the House with some good, solid conservatives and I felt so proud and accomplished. I felt like we - the TEA Party, my mommy friends, ME - we had made a difference," Rebecca said. "We were helping to put our country back on the right path, and return to the ideals of our founders."

"Then came 2011," Rebecca says, and her mood clouds. "It felt like every time I turned around, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell were selling us out, hanging our Tea Party freshmen out to dry, and doing it for no apparent reason."

She's unsure why this is. "Are they idiots, or just the worst chess/poker players ever? Every time they have an opportunity to limit government, reduce taxes, etc. they blow it."

And all the while, President Obama is able to "look like he's trying, he's really trying, but the 'Republican Controlled Congress' keeps getting in the way. The debt ceiling increases. The lack of a budget. The 30-odd House passed bills that Harry Reid won't allow a vote on." Indeed, Rebecca is so infuriated with the Congress' inability to carry their message or push back, she thinks a third party might be needed.

"I almost feel as though there needs to be a new party, a truly conservative party, that really represents us. Sometimes I feel like the GOP is more interested in protecting their jobs than in promoting conservative ideals. At least, that's what Boehner and McConnell make me think," Rebecca said. "Why can't we have a party full of Rubios - candidates who believe in American exceptionalism and limited government, and do so unapologetically? Why do we have to have so many squishes?"

There are a lot of people out there like that, and a major disappointment in 2012 could be just the thing to motivate the formation of an actual conservative third party. I don't like the idea very much because I think it will guarantee Democrat control for a long time until that party is firmly established, but just think of the impact of a party that actually ran and supported candidates like Marco Rubio and other strong conservatives. That would be something to see.

Obama To Equip His Hordes With Mobile Credit Card Readers

This is actually quite a good idea and the GOP should take note:

President Barack Obama is no stranger to fundraising: his 2008 campaign drew a record-shattering $750 million in donations, and many expect his reelection efforts will result in a colossal war chest exceeding $1 billion come November. To aid in that lofty endeavor, Politico reports that campaign staffers with Android and iPhone handsets will soon be wielding Square credit card readers for collecting contributions on the go. Square units will allegedly be distributed to both Obama for America employees and volunteers nationwide, though a date for the rollout hasn't been pegged as of yet. While smaller political outfits have also turned to the plastic dongle for fundraising, Obama's White House will be the first to utilize the mobile payment technology in a presidential contest.

I've been using Square to handle mobile credit card transactions for about a year now and I absolutely love it. The service works with my Android phone and almost instantly authorizes credit transactions and puts the money in my account within a couple of days (less their fee). I'd be curious to know if any special fee discount arrangements have been made for the Obama campaign. They normally charge 2.75% for swiped cards, and 3.5% for manually keyed transactions. I would think any other discount arrangements might constitute a donation to the campaign.

With the Square readers campaign minions could walk around rallies and accept cards on the spot for campaign donations.  Square usually limits the number of devices on one account to 20, but they may be making an exception given the number of people involved in a campaign.  I just wonder how many people will open their credit card statements and find they've contributed more than they planned to a campaign, or perhaps made a contribution they didn't even know about.  The potential for fraud and abuse is pretty high in such an uncontrolled environment.

The other risk is that anyone can set up a Square account, so if they wish to pad their own coffers all they need do is sign onto their account rather than the official Obama campaign account.  Any transactions would flow to their bank instead of the campaign.  Maybe I should start attending Obama rallies to make a little extra cash?

The GOP should pay attention - using a mobile credit card device like Square is a good idea worth copying.  Get on it.

Leftist Latinos Demand Marco Rubio Play Identity Politics

These people are going to be disappointed if they expect to influence Marco Rubio's votes by demanding he play their identity politics game:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is at the top of every pundit's short list to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, in the belief that having a Latino in the second spot on the ticket will attract Latino voters who have been fleeing the GOP in recent years.

But today at the Hispanic Leadership Network conference in Miami, the Berkeley organization Presente Action is launching a national anti-Rubio campaign during his big moment in the national spotlight, days before Tuesday's critical Florida primary.

Their assertion, backed by recent surveys, is that Rubio's positions on several key issues, immigration in particular, are far from the mainstream of the Latino electorate.

So Presente, a 3-year-old, 250,000-member online hub that aims to be "the Latino MoveOn.org" is aiming its campaign at the senator who is a Tea Party darling. The campaign's name: "No somos Rubios." ("We are not Rubios.")

"Rubio has to decide," said Presente Action co-founder and strategist Roberto Lovato, "if he's a Latino or a Tea Partino."

These people want all Latinos to vote as a bloc, which is what black voters currently do. As I explained in a previous post, the day black voters decided to act as one they effectively gave up their political power. So far Latinos haven't made the same mistake, and because so much of their electorate can still be swayed by political arguments, they have retained the power that blacks have lost.

Latinos would be wise to ignore these groups and make up their own minds about candidates and issues.  That's what Marco Rubio has done.

Political Graphic of the Day

ElectionProjection.com is back up and running and has provided its first look at an Obama vs. Romney race.  It's very close, but the edge at this point is to Obama.  The first numbers give Obama a 272-266 Electoral Vote win (it takes 270 to win).  Interestingly, the project gives Romney a slight edge in the popular vote, sort of a repeat of 2000.  I wonder if those states that think the popular vote winner should get their electoral votes would agree to give their votes to Romney instead of Obama if he won the popular vote? Not likely.

The site is also looking at the House and Senate. Based on current polls they give the GOP a 50-49-1 lead in the Senate, and a 242-193 lead in the House, if the elections were today. There's still lots of work to do to guarantee or improve those numbers.

This is a site I'll be checking regularly throughout the campaign year as its updated for new polls.  It was a good resource in 2008.

Michelle Obama Does Her Part for the Economy

She's just like the rest of us...

Michelle Obama reportedly shelled out $50,000 on “the sexiest lingerie in the world” at Agent Provocateur, according to The Telegraph.

The first lady’s visit to the Madison Avenue store helped increase the lingerie brand’s sales by 12 percent.

After several British news outlets reported on the shopping spree, a White House official denied the story, according to Politico.

Agent Provocateur CEO Gary Hogarth couldn’t comment on the luxury store’s client list, but he did say that there had been some high-profile clients.

The French company is known as much for its erotic lingerie as it is for its high prices.

There are certain images of the First Lady you just don't want invading your mind.

Political Cartoon of the Day

Seen on Facebook:

If You're Planning to Sit Out the Election if Your Guy Doesn't Get the Nomination, You Don't Have a Candidate You Have a Personality Cult

This year the primary election process seems to have taken on much more of a "my guy or nothing" attitude among many voters.  We've seen that for several cycles with the Ron Paul nuts, but increasingly that seems to be the theme of the day with other campaigns as well.  The Romney forces say they can't support Newt if he wins, and the Newt forces say they'd rather elect Obama than Mitt.  Rick Santorum seems to be the only guy who has escaped these personality cult politics, but that's probably because he has relatively few followers.

It used to be GOP voters would shrug their shoulders, swallow hard, and go vote for the RINO-of-the-day who was foisted on them by the party establishment.  That all changed when the Tea Party came along and supported candidates who were in some cases unelectable (like Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle) rather than line up behind a unreliable RINO. As a result we probably gave away the Senate seat in Connecticut and our best chance to flush Harry Reid away in Nevada.  There were victories, like Marco Rubio in Florida, but demanding ideological purity is a risky game.

So, what happens with Tea Party voters if Mitt Romney wins the nomination?  Do they stay home and help give Obama four more years, or so they swallow their pride one more time and pull the lever for Mitt?  It all comes down to priorities, and the first priority has got to be ending the reign of Obama.  As bad as Mitt might be on some issues, is he really going to be worse than Obama?  Of course not.

Some are saying they're okay with electing Obama as long as the GOP holds the House and takes the Senate (the latter is certainly not a sure thing).  However, that ignores the fact that Obama has already shown he's willing to exert power that he may not even legally have via unilateral executive orders and the like.  He recently made two recess appointments even though Congress wasn't in recess.  If you think you can check his power with a GOP congress, you're wrong.  You can stop legislation, but you can't stop executive orders and onerous regulations that will be imposed by Obama's appointees.

Bottom line, whoever the nominee ends up being the fate of the nation requires the allegiance of ALL GOP voters toward our candidate.  We may not like him all that much, and he probably won't be our favorite, but if he can win and stop Obama we must support him.

The #OccupyWallStreet Movement is Past Its Expiration Date

How do you know when your leftist protest movement is past its expiration date?  When lefty cities like Oakland have finally had enough:

Oakland City Hall was set to reopen Monday after municipal employees worked to clean up damage they said was caused over the weekend by Occupy protesters, about 400 of whom were arrested following clashes with police in this Northern California city.

The mass arrests, described by police as the largest in city history, appear to have injected new life into the Occupy movement as protesters in a number of American and European cities took to the streets Sunday to express their solidarity with the Occupy Oakland group.

"The Occupy movement will respond, as we have always responded: With an overwhelming show of collective resistance," Occupy Wall Street said in a statement posted on its website.

The City of Oakland is getting what it deserves. They babied this movement and allowed it to violate numerous city ordinances all in the name of "freedom of protest and assembly", and now that they've finally grown tired of this silly game, putting the genie back in the bottle isn't going to be easy. The city now has a whole collection of spoiled brats who aren't going to give up their city-granted freedoms very easily. And with solidarity protests breaking out in other cities, like L.A., we appear to have some more temper tantrums to work through before this movement finally dies.

Political Quote of the Day

From Rep. Allen West (R-FL):

"Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America."

West may need to start directing his ire at the GOP establishment that's actively working to redistricting him right out of Congress.