Remember that census worker found hanged with the word “fed” scrawled on him? Remember how our liberal friends were hinting darkly at the growth of evil, mean, wicked, racist, knuckle-dragging conservatives out to get Obama? Well, it wasn’t quite like that:

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.

But, hey, why let something like facts get in the way of a good story?

And more power to him – after all, it was Obama (0-2 in helping Democrats win elections in 2009) who told Patterson to get out:

The governor is now taking to the air waves to convince New Yorkers he deserves to stay in office.

“What it’s geared to do is talk about his very good record over the last year, the things he’s done for the state, including closing a $35 billion budget,” said veteran political consultant Bill Lynch.

The ads are aimed at improving Paterson’s low poll numbers and sending a message to other Democrats, including President Barack Obama, that he is determined to seek another term in office.

“Once people know the things he’s done for this state they will start to look at him differently,” said Lynch.

Paterson, whose popularity currently hovers in the 20 percent range, was seriously wounded when Obama let it be known he didn’t want Paterson to run because Republicans like Rudy Giuliani consistently beat him in the polls. But Obama’s recent lack of success in backing local candidates, including New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, has empowered Paterson.

The normal way to put this is “rats deserting the sinking ship”, but however else you want to characterize Patterson, “rat” isn’t it. He’s been a loyal, liberal Democrat for decades and Obama cut him off at the knees. Small wonder that Paterson has decided to ignore The One’s advice and do his own thing. Its better, in the end, to go down fighting than to surrender with out a fight. I think we’ll beat Patterson next year – but we’ll have beaten a fighter, not a mere poodle for Obama and the Democrat bosses.

Kill the Bill Rally: Gateway pundit has the details.

A terrible event – but I don’t want anyone to call it an “act of violence” or “a terrible tragedy”. It was an attack – one or more men decided with malice to attack a US military base. We need to get right down to the bottom of this – and, liberals, if the stories of accomplices in custody are true, this is where harsh interrogation might be needed: whoever was involved in this most emphatically does not have a right to remain silent.

UPDATE: AP sources: Fort Hood suspect drew attention of authorities 6 months ago for Internet posts (via Twitter)

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey describes what he calls Obama’s “My Pet Goat” moment, his address to the nation about the attack:

It took Obama almost two full minutes from the time he began speaking until he got around to mentioning the shooting at Fort Hood — the reason everyone tuned into Obama’s speech. The nation wanted some leadership at a time when it appeared that a terrorist attack may have taken place on American soil — and Obama was apparently more concerned about giving a “shout out” to his friends at the Tribal Nations Conference. Indeed, he tells the audience above that he’s been inconvenienced out of delivering his lengthier remarks because the shooting has intruded itself on his daily business.

Its like they’re just determined to be stupid and hateful:

The Vatican expressed “astonishment” and “regret” at Tuesday’s decision from the European Court of Human Rights that crucifixes in public school classrooms are a violation of freedom.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, gave a brief statement today to Vatican Radio in response to the decision.

“The crucifix has always been a sign of God’s offer of love, of union and of welcome for the whole of humanity,” the spokesman said. “It is to be regretted that it has come to be considered as a sign of division, of exclusion and of limitation of liberty. It is not this, and it is not so in the common feeling of our people.”

The Italian government protested the ruling, having contended that crucifixes — often hung in Italian public schools — are national symbol of culture and history.

Father Lombardi echoed this idea.

He called particularly grave “the desire to set aside from the educational world a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture.”

The Jesuit added that “religion makes a precious contribution to a person’s formation and moral growth, and is an essential component of our civilization. It is mistaken and myopic to want to exclude it from the educational realm.”

“It is astonishing then that a European court should intervene weightily in a matter profoundly linked to the historical, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people,” the Vatican spokesman stated.

What’s next? Tear down the Gothic cathedrals? After all, hard to escape the Christian imagery there, ya know?

This is just more liberal/left stupidity – the sooner these cretins die out and are replaced by the residual, but growing, Christian population of Europe, the better.

Still a lot of fight left to be done, so pay heed:

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that “the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits–not animals.” And he said, “There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.”

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. – Ronald Reagan

Leave no stone unturned. Shirk no task. Do what the duty of the day requires. We shall have them – and we will restore our Nation.

And with CIT out, this just might be the harbinger of worse to come:

Business bankruptcy filings jumped in October, reversing two consecutive months of declining commercial filings and indicating that bankruptcies could continue to rise as the economy struggles to stabilize.

Last month, 7,771 businesses filed for bankruptcy protection, compared to 7,271 that sought shelter from creditors in September, according to data from Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a private firm that tracks bankruptcy filings.

After two months of decline, the 7% rise in commercial filings shows that businesses are still struggling to access financing and are facing weak demand for their products.

With CIT’s bankruptcy, businesses will find it even harder to obtain financing and that will start a cruel cycle.

There would have been a role for government here if Obama hadn’t already shot his bolt with TARP and the Spendulus boondoggles. You see, the government can, at times (and only for short times) provide some much needed liquidity to small and medium sized business who have solid products, but are having trouble staying afloat or getting launched in an economic downturn. The key here is to understand that if someone isn’t making, mining or growing something, then there’s no point getting involved, at all, in such times. Obama shoveled all the money at entities which just shovel money around…it made their books look good for a quarter, but it didn’t produce any wealth. And as the money was borrowed against the future, Obama’s programs actually made us worse off.

But for those companies that do something useful (grow food, make tools, mine for copper, etc, etc, etc) then its in our best interest to help out as much as we can. This is because wealth isn’t money – money is just a convenience…easier to carry around a $20 to buy your lunch than provide your skills or goods at the local fast food joint, you see? Money can come in handy, but only if its to be used to allow people to exercise their skills to create wealth. Don’t bail out a bank (which only got in to trouble because the people running it got greedy and stupid), but you can send a few bucks to the landscaper who needs to purchase a new truck but can’t get financing in a tight market.

Even so, of course, such interventions are not ideal – and should be given sparingly and terminated as swiftly as possible – but they can play a role in economic stablization and as they result in things being made, mined or grown, we actually have more wealth…wealth which can, of course, be used to pay back the money provided to get things rolling. Right now, the economic wizards are stirring a pot of toxic assets and hoping that recovery emerges from the stew. Ain’t gonna happen. In fact, with all of Obama’s borrowing, we’re just being buried deeper…and more firms won’t get financing (because Obama borrowed it all, you see?) and thus will go under or not get started and this will, in turn, cause more firms to lose financing, etc.

Interesting:

Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix.

After noting that Palin will be in Chicago later this month to appear on “Oprah”, Kirk writes that “the Chicago media will focus on one key issue: Does Gov[ernor] Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk’s bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?”

Kirk goes on to write that he is hoping for something “quick and decisive” from Palin about the race, perhaps to the effect of: “Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that.”

Malek confirmed the authenticity of the memo in an e-mail exchange with the Fix.

Kirk’s memo is tangible evidence of the power of Palin’s endorsement in a Republican primary. Kirk, a moderate by voting record in the House, is clearly very concerned about the negative impact a Palin endorsement of one of his primary opponents could have on his chances at being the party’s nominee for the seat being vacated by appointed Sen. Roland Burris (D).

Just the first instance of this, boys and girls – without TEA Party (and Sarah Palin is a TEA Party hero) support, any moderate to RINO GOPer out there might have a lot of trouble both getting nominated, and then winning in the Fall. Combinations and calculations are adjusting out there.

To Nevada Republicans, especially, but to all Republicans who are crowing loud today – Don’t get too confident.

Discuss last night’s GOP triumph; GOP prospects for 2010; how depressed liberals must be…anything that comes to mind.

UPDATE: For you Dems out there trying to spin the Owens win as some sort of counterbalance to NJ/VA:

You should pay attention to the fact that the Democrats weren’t just beaten in VA, but crushed…this was a blowout of historic proportions.

For you Dems out there trying to spin the Hoffman loss as a repudiation of Palin:

She locked down TEA Party support; mission accomplished.

UPDATE II: Pelosi thinks Democrats won. We’ll try to give her more such victories.