The John McCain Crazy Train

Allahpundit rounds up some reports on McCain digging himself ever deeper in to the Ruling Class hole over Paul’s filibuster – best comment:

“Senator McCain is obviously well aware of the politics of this – he just doesn’t care,” said one McCain aide. “He’s doing what he thinks is right. Unlike many of these guys, he’s actually been involved in a few national security debates over the years. He knows that jumping on the Rand Paul black helicopters crazytrain isn’t good for our Party or our country, no matter what Twitter says.”

Just to clarify, “black helicopters crazytrain” is those people who think that we’ve built concentration camps in Montana and that blue helmeted UN troops are already here, ready to declare martial law.  Paul isn’t within a country mile of such people.  But I’ll tell you who is crazy – John McCain and all those establishment types, left and right, who think that we’re going the right thing in our War on Terror policies.

Those who have been reading this blog over the years know that I was an ardent supporter of President Bush’s policies regarding terror.  100% support of the invasion of Iraq.  Still think it was the right thing to do.  I believe that Iran is a gigantic threat and that we will have to deal with it militarily.  But for goodness sakes, what happened between 2003 and today should cause some re-assessment of the best way to go about things.  Clearly, maintaining relationships with Muslim tyrannies in the name of “anti-terror” policies is asinine.  Clearly, giving Muslims the ability to freely vote for their own government doesn’t mean they’re going to vote for a government we like.  Clearly, the Islamist radicals are more determined that ever – and ever more brutish in their treatment of non-Muslims (seriously; just google “Muslims attack church” and see how many hits you get, and how many very recent events).

The height of insanity is our decision to continue military aid to Egypt – including providing powerful F-16 aircraft – a Muslim Brotherhood regime which is the enemy of everything we hold dear.  That is insane – and anyone want to bet where McCain stands on that?  Paul is crazy for wanting a simple declaration that the President may not kill Americans on American soil without due process?  Whatever you say, McCain.

For now, whatever it is we were trying to do in the Muslim world has come a cropper.  It is time to withdraw and re-assess.  Now, there is that one in a million chance that our withdrawal will actually cool down the Islamists.  I very much doubt that.  More than likely, it will be interpreted as a sign of weakness and they will resume their attack at the earliest opportunity.  When that happens, however, we would be able to approach the whole issue un-tied to any past commitments and free to do what we wish.  To just keep going on, grinding out with what we’ve been doing and adding to it increased drone attacks doesn’t seem wisdom in my view.  To defend the President on drones simply because you want to be “tough on terrorism” is idiotic.  It is time for a change, and Rand Paul sees it; McCain doesn’t.

 

Rand Paul Filibuster Open Thread

UPDATE:  Paul went 13 hours and laid down the marker:  everyone now knows that there are, for certain, GOPers who will bring things to a screeching halt on matters of principal.

As of this moment, he’s still at it, 8 hours going strong.  Joining in support are Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and even Democrat Ron Wyden.  The issue is Paul’s demand that President Obama answer – without equivocation, yes or no, please – whether or not he’d order a drone strike on an American citizen within US territory.  This is a genuine filibuster and no one can make him stop – only exhaustion, or Obama actually answering the question, brings this to an end.

This is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time and goes a long way towards restoring faith in our legislative branch.  For too long all Administrations – but especially Obama’s – have managed to skate past oversight simply because no one took oversight duties all that seriously (and forget about it on getting almost all the MSM to find out – the are completely controlled by Obama).  Paul does take this duty seriously.  Now, will we get a straight answer from Obama?  Probably not – but the marker will be laid down that the people have a right to know what the Executive proposes to do, and Obama (and his Democrats) know that Republicans will stand tall at need.

Discuss this and all issues of constitutional government.

Continue reading

Hugo Chavez Dies, Left Has a Sad

So, Chavez is dead and his VP is blaming us for giving him cancer – but we know that is a lie because only Republicans give people cancer (though, perhaps Bush gave it to him before he left office?).  As we could expect, the useful idiots of the left wasted little time in mourning the loss of another Dear Leader:

Hugo Chavez was a leader that understood the needs of the poor. He was committed to empowering the powerless. R.I.P. Mr. President. – Rep Jose Serrano (D)

He was known for his grand overtures and bold attacks. – Bianca Jagger (she still alive?)

A good man and a friend of the USA has passed on.. Vaya Con Dios, Hugo. I hope they wear tight red dress shirts in heaven. – Colin Quinn

Hugo #Chavez has died. Commiserations to his family & the people of #Venezuela .Tragedy for Latin America & Caribbean. – Diane Abbott, MP, Shadow Public Health Minister, Great Britain

Farewell Comandante Hugo Chavez champion of the poor the oppressed everywhere. Modern day Spartacus. Rest in Peace – George Galloway

The working class people of Venezuala, Latin America and the world have today lost a fine socialist champion. RIP Hugo Chavez – Colin Fox, Scottish Socialist Party

Of course, not everyone is distressed…

In honor of Chavez, burrito warmers at Citgo rolling at half-speed – Iowahawk

Obama’s Sequester Backfire?

So argues Dan Mitchell:

…he miscalculated in thinking that the fiscal cliff tax hike somehow meant that he had permanently neutered the GOP, and he definitely goofed when he tried to use the sequester as a weapon to bully Republicans into another tax hike.

Ignoring the President’s hyperbole about the supposed catastrophic effects of a very modest reduction in the growth of the federal budget, Republicans have held firm.

And the President has suffered a painful political and policy defeat…

I won’t go that far – but I will say that I am pleased that the House GOP wasn’t stampeded by the “sequestageddon” hype being shouted by Obama and his MSM lapdogs.  It certainly isn’t working out as Obama hoped – what he clearly hoped for is a divided GOP providing him with more tax hikes…and then a dispirited GOP to be defeated in the 2014 mid terms.  He still might get that (the GOP can always surrender later, after all), but so far, so good.

At the end of the day, Obama has done the very worst political thing a leader can do – show himself to be a nasty,  unreliable negotiating partner.  Knee to groin tactics are one thing:  they are, indeed, expected in the rough and tumble of politics.  And even a bit of goal-post moving can be part of a larger political strategy to get what you want.  But when you are knee to groin and goal post moving all the time, eventually the other side gives up on negotiating.  Obama has proven himself a terrible politician – not just now, but all through his Administration.  True, he has won some victories, but only by the application of raw, political power.  He’s failed to co-opt or divide the GOP while also failing to really give his side all that it wants.  Had he at least some times kept his word and had he allowed even a few fig leaves to cover the GOP’s failure, he would have gotten a lot more – and would continue to get a lot more for at least another year (the thing about a 2nd term President is that authority oozes away at a remorseless rate…by this time 2014 everyone will be concerned with the mid-terms and after that all politics will be the growing fight on both sides to win in 2016).

We’ll see how all this comes out but right now the debate is about cutting spending (a strong GOP point), gun control (another strong GOP point) and gay marriage (polls show GOP weakness but when it comes to votes – especially in 2014 – I think this will work to the GOP’s advantage).  The GOP mostly just has to sit tight and start working on 2014 messaging – there’s not much Obama can do and what Obama has done promises to make things progressively worse in the United States.  The chickens are coming home to roost for Obama and he’s alienated the GOP…whom he needs to help get him out of his jam.  This could get mighty entertaining.

It Is No Wonder That The Proggies Want to Remove the Debt Clock!!!

obAMATEUR ADDS $6 TRILLION to the national debt IN FOUR YEARS!!!!  He, his fellow proggy looters, his drones and lemmings all believe that he can spend this nation into prosperity – along with cranking up the printing presses.

I seem to remember these same proggies, looters and drones mindlessly whining about Bush with his measly $4.9 trillion in EIGHT YEARS.  We never heard the end of their CONSTANT whining!  Now they are in charge and they are on track to spend more and add to the debt than the first 43 Presidents COMBINED!

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamas-now-added-6-trillion-national-debt_704980.html

Again they don’t want their “irresponsible and unpatriotic” activities on display for all to see!  Remember those are obAMATEUR’s words when criticizing the spending under Bush!

Here is a reminder of that for slow-witted drones like mitchie:

At the time: the debt “obligation” for each citizen was $30,000 at obAMATEUR says.  Now it is over $50,000 “that we are going to have to pay back” and we have crickets coming from the left on the subject. Mindless drones, like mitchie, are doing exactly what the pResident expects, NOTHING!

Now back to our program……

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/341725/democrats-gop-take-down-debt-clock-nathaniel-botwinick

Now that we are in sequestration, thanks to obAMATEUR (his plan and his initiation of it yesterday).  If he just followed his rhetoric – a balanced approach (tax increases with spending cuts) –  none of this would have happened.  He received his tax increases on the “evil” rich (to delay the sequestration date) where are the spending cuts?  He failed AGAIN to deliver the budget as required by law – since when does this pResident worry about law anyway?

He will and expect his mindless drones to regurgitate the dumbed down talking points that it is all the Republicans’ fault and the reason for the pathetic economy.

For once this is all about him!

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  Quote of the day from Mark Steyn

…Can you pierce the mists of time and go back all the way to the year 2007? Back then, federal spending was 40 percent lower than it is today. In a mere half-decade, has all that 40 percent gravy become so indispensable to the general welfare that not even a teensy-weensy sliver of it can be cut?

If you really believe that, then America is going to die, and a gullible citizenry willing to give this laughable charade the time of day will bear ultimate responsibility. We have seen the boobs, and they are us.

The Brain Damage Of The Left – Open Thread

Currently, there is such a target rich environment of liberalism gone awry and just good old fashion Democratic incompetence that it has become difficult to zero in on just one issue to write about, so I thought I would compile a hodgepodge of liberal haughtiness if you will in a fun weekend thread. So here goes – first up;

– The impoverished school children of Alabama score a huge victory much to the chagrin of state Democrats who were hoping to keep them as subjects of the oppressive teachers unions.

– Despite VP Joe Biden’s recent insistence to buy a shotgun and randomly squeeze off a few a rounds for protection – the Colorado State government is seeking to ban the weapon.

– Harry Reid has called on reporters to do their duty, and just report the Democratic talking points

– Either not knowing the best path forward, or actually asking his advance team, otherwise known as the liberal mainstream media, for advice, President Obama asked a reporter yesterday “What do you want me to do”

– The Obama recovery is in full swing – yesterday it was reported that personal incomes realized the most dramatic decline in 20 years. Important to note here that despite the drop in personal income, President Obama just ended a vigorous campaign trying to convince Americans that a 2.4% reduction in Government spending would result in something just short of an apocalypse.

– And speaking of the sequester apocalypse, the President is now backing away from that claim, saying; and I quote: “This is not going to be an apocalypse I think, as some people said”. This despite the fact that just two days ago, he said this: “If Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness, it will eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research,” Obama warned in a speech at the White House”.

– And not to be outdone by the White House, Democratic Representative Maxine Waters claimed that the sequester would result in the loss of 170,000 jobs – WOW!

– And last, but certainly not least – a three year Democratic witch hunt on Gov. Scott Walker has come to a quiet end with no charges being filed, and no crimes committed. This of course was cause for State Democrat communications director Graeme Zielinski to compare Walker with notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

A head spinning week of liberal brain damage to be sure. Can’t wait for next week.