Incredible that in 2010 a fascist measure could be defeated in California, but here it is:

Cigar-smoking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Monday that would have banned smoking at all California state parks and beaches, saying the bill crossed the line of government intrusion.

In a letter to California senators, the governor said state parks and local governments were already permitted to ban smoking on a case-by-case basis.

“There is something inherently uncomfortable about the idea of the state encroaching in such a broad manner on the people of California,” Schwarzenegger wrote to lawmakers.

Next thing you know, Californians might even the allowed to, say, have a smoke with a beer! Anything is possible now that this sliver of liberty has been able to shine in the California darkness.

The liberties Californians enjoy (firing up the bong, having strange sex) have now been expanded to being able to smoke a pipe while fishing. Glorious day, indeed.

Now, to our Californian friends, I do want you to be careful. Liberty can be a bit dangerous and scary until you get used to it. The whole key here is to exercise judgment. I know, I know – your liberal masters in Sacramento have been doing that for you, but now you’ll have to take charge, a little bit.

For you smokers, that will entail a bit of situational awareness – before you light up your smoke, take a look around and see if anyone else is smoking. If no one is – even if you’re outside – then its probably best to wait until later. For you non-smokers, when you see someone smoking, you can either move out of the way of the tobacco, or politely ask the smoker to refrain – most people are pretty decent about this sort of thing and will extinguish upon request.

This is called good manners – all responsible, free people have them. Eventually, you swell kids out there might even be deciding where to send your kids to school and how to discipline them. But, lets leave that aside for now – baby steps. Lets see if you can handle smoking.

The battle for Jack Murtha’s old seat:

…the latest Daily Kos poll shows Republican Tim Burns now pulling ahead by 6 points in a hard-fought battle against Democrat Mark Critz. (National Review’s Jim Geraghty says, “And if DK/R2000 are still using the same 2008 turnout model that all their other polls have used, Burns is actually up by a few points more.” ) Despite the encouraging news, this should be a down-to-the-wire fight in a district where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1.

And, of course, if we win in PA-12, then the sky is the limit for November.

This race, coupled with Djou’s effort in Hawaii, will tell us a lot about where we are. Both seats have long been held by Democrats. Both have heavy Democrat registration advantages. Both are in blue States. Win here, and we can win everywhere.

Least surprising news of the week:

Taxpayers are naturally eager for news about bailout repayments. But what neither G.M. nor the Treasury disclosed was that the company simply used other funds held by the Treasury to pay off its original loan.

Neil M. Barofsky, the inspector general overseeing the troubled asset program, revealed this detail when he spoke before the Senate Finance Committee on April 20.

“So it’s good news in that they’re reducing their debt,” Mr. Barofsky said of G.M. But he went on to note that G.M. was using other taxpayer money to make the loan repayment, according to the transcript of his testimony.

Armed with this information, Mr. Grassley fired off a letter to Mr. Geithner on April 22, asking for details of the transaction. “I am concerned … that this announcement is not what it seems,” he wrote. “In fact, it appears to be nothing more than an elaborate TARP money shuffle.”

Mr. Grassley heard back from the Treasury last Tuesday. Herbert M. Allison Jr., assistant secretary for financial stability, confirmed that the money G.M. used to repay its bailout loan had come from a taxpayer-financed escrow account held for the automaker at the Treasury.

GM and Treasury are still trying to spin this in a positive manner, but the cat is very much out of the bag. GM used one bit of taxpayer supplied funds to pay back another bit of taxpayer supplied funds. And as Treasury is involved, this is probably a move by the Obama Administration to make people feel better in advance of the November elections.

This is all we’re getting with Stimulus, TARP and all the rest of the nonsense: fake economic growth, fake debt repayment, fake “investment” in America. And its all done via ever more debt piled up on the productive class of the United States of America – already overburdened and increasingly impoverished.

When the crash comes, it will be quite devastating – and I think that people will have pointed and uncomfortable questions for those who sold this bill of goods.

Looking good:

You may have read in today’s Honolulu Advertiser that a new scientific poll shows us with an early 8 point lead as ballots start to arrive in voters’ mailboxes. Here are the numbers:

Charles Djou 36%

Ed Case 28%

Colleen Hanabusa 22%

As my wife and I walk the district, we are constantly reminded why I entered this race many months ago; because Congress is taking our nation in the wrong direction spending too much money on programs that don’t work with no plan to pay it back other than to hand the bill to our children. I’m humbled by the support we continue to receive and today’s poll validates what we have thought all along; our message of fiscal responsibility resonates with Hawaii voters. But, I also know it’s the voters’ judgment that ultimately counts, not any poll.

Which is, of course, very true. If you live in Hawaii, here is your chance – and how often does a Hawaiin GOPer/Conservative really get a chance to heavily impact national politics? Don’t let this opportunity slip – we send Djou to Congress, we send an unmistakable message that even in the Blue States, liberalism is on the run.

This is looking pretty grim:

THE Gulf of Mexico oil spill may be growing five times faster than previously estimated and is in danger of accelerating out of control, it was claimed yesterday.

Experts said satellite data indicated the oil was gushing from BP’s sunken Deepwater Horizon rig at 25,000 barrels a day. Previous estimates had put the leak at 5,000 barrels a day.

Professor Ian MacDonald, an ocean specialist at Florida State University, said the new estimate suggested the leak had already spread 9m gallons of heavy crude oil across the Gulf. This compares with 11m that leaked from the Exxon Valdez tanker when it hit a reef off Alaska in 1989.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deteriorating conditions on the sea bed may result in an even greater flow of 50,000 barrels a day, sufficient to produce one of America’s worst ecological disasters.

This looks like it will a big hit on people, on the economy and on the environment. And, folks, it does look like the Obama Administration has flubbed it pretty badly.

These are the liberals – the save-the-Earth tree huggers! Aren’t they supposed to be extra sensitive to these threats? I guess there wasn’t a fund raising angle nor a means to slander the TEA Party, and thus this passed under the radar until it got very late in the game.

Steyn on Arizona. You know, he is an immigrant who had taken a job no American wants to do. Well, at least, no American in the MSM wants to do – provide witty and insightful commentary.

A Christian was savagely beaten and sodomized by a mob of Moslem men. The Christians crime? He shaved the beard of a Moslem. As I’ve talked about before – if there is to be peace between people like myself and the people of the Moslem world, then Moslems will have to stop treating my people like garbage. I don’t want to hear another bleat about “Islamophobia” until crimes like this don’t happen any longer.

Palin: We must continue to drill, baby, drill. Which is, of course, the only rational thing to do – naturally, this doesn’t commend itself to liberals. Which is fine – when gasoline hits $4 a gallon this summer, it’ll nicely play in to our hands.

Your tax dollars at work – at the strip club and drinking while driving. We seriously could get away with firing half the employees of government – if nothing else, it might force the remaining half to spruce up and remember they are our servants, not our masters.

In an attempt to put a bit of “fair and balanced” to my above comment, an alternative opinion is offered to fire all of them.

Correlation between contraceptive pills and AIDS? If there is, you won’t find the MSM or the left caring about it. Human life to them is only valuable if it advances the leftist agenda.

Iowahawk strikes again: Citizen Gore

The story:

HFA members may remember a previous article we published about the FDA invading an Amish farm. The story continues with agents invading the Amish farm in Pennsylvaniayet again at 5 a.m. to inspect cow-milking facilities then followed up the next day with a written notice that the farmer was engaged in interstate sale of raw milk in violation of the Public Health Services Act. A failure to correct the situation could result in “seizure and/or injunction,” the warning letter from Kirk Sooter, district director of the Philadelphia office of the Department of Health and Human Services, told farmer Dan Allgyer of Kinzers, Pa., on Wednesday. The farm invaded Tuesday is the one agents visited in February, driving past “Private Property” signs to demand Allgyer open his property for their inspection, saying, “You have cows. You produce food for human consumption.”

If someone wants to sell raw milk it means that someone wants to buy raw milk. Pretty much, that is the end of the story – no need for government to concern themselves over a transaction which has taken place in human society ever since cows were domesticated.

But here comes the Nanny State – as there is a health risk to consuming raw milk, they’re going to bang down the doors of a farmer and tell him to stop or they’ll take his property away from him. Now, I’m sure the FDA is acting in accordance with federal law – but it shouldn’t be. There shouldn’t be a single, federal law regulating the production and sale of milk. People produced and sold milk long before the United States government came to be, and so such activity is covered under the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution – hands off, Uncle Sam!

But that is not what our Statists want – they want full control because they simply cannot imagine that people will make good decisions on their own. And this is the real problem and what we’re fighting against – the destruction of our liberties by a government grown too large.

The news:

Police found an apparent car bomb in a parked sport utility vehicle Saturday evening in New York City’s Times Square, then evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists in “the Crossroads of the World.”

A mounted police officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV at 6:30 p.m., police said. Bomb investigators found propane tanks, powder and an apparent timing device inside, according to a law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to release the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.

An official tells Fox News that a dark SUV was found to have what initial reports indicated was a “failed incendiary device,” including gasoline, propane and wires.

A man was seen running from the vehicle, but authorities have not been able to find or identify him.

This is a bit frightening. Is it just a kook with a grudge, or part of a larger plot against America? Only time will tell on that.

But let this be a reminder that danger does lurk for us. There are people who wish to kill in great numbers for a variety of sick causes. Eternal vigilance is the prince we’ll have to pay to both protect our selves and preserve our liberty.

Well, they did get it right about Edwards…

Reports out of Washington, DC: PRESIDENT OBAMA in a shocking cheating scandal after being caught in a Washington, DC Hotel with a former campaign aide.

A confidential investigation has learned that Obama first became close to gorgeous 35 year-old VERA BAKER in 2004 when she worked tirelessly to get him elected to the US Senate, raising millions in campaign contributions.

Couple years back we all would have said, “are you kidding? That’s the National Enquirer! Who can believe them?”. But then the MSM stopped reporting negative stuff about Democrats…and now if anyone is going to report it, it’ll be those who have to drive their circulation by the most lurid stories imaginable.

If you’re on the left and don’t like this, then I suggest you talk to your friends in the MSM. Go over carefully with them how important it is to always tell the truth about what is going on, even if it hurts the left. Remember, Edwards with all his nauseating scandals actually had a solid shot of being President simply because the MSM sat on the story.

Mickey Kaus calls them on it:

Participants in Saturday’s pro-amnesty marches are being used by the Democratic party elite, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mickey Kaus charged today.

“There is not going to be an amnesty this year, or next year. The majority of the American people don’t want it, for good reason. They want to secure the borders first,” he said. “Amnesty before we secure the borders would only encourage yet another wave of illegals and hurt the wages of unskilled Americans (and legal immigrants).”

“But every time Democratic politicians in D.C. need to rev up the Latino vote, they dangle the false promise of an amnesty bill. At some point. Latino voters are going to realize they’re being used.”

And do keep in mind that I want an amnesty bill. Not even afraid to call it that – amnesty, amnesty, amnesty! But we must secure the border, first – any proposal which does not secure the border first is either just plain and simple stupid, or a cynical political ploy.

For our Democrats, its the cynical ploy thing – Kaus is right: Democrat leaders are facing a terrible election dynamic and a dispirited base. This is just a sick means of revving them up for the fall.

The nauseating way Democrats conduct themselves just gets worse all the time. We simply must win in November if for no other reason than to just get these creepy people out of power.

UPDATE: Pro-illegal immigration donations were a bust. Only 50,000 in Los Angeles, 6,500 in New York. Heavily organized by leftist groups they still couldn’t get an impressive turn out. We got 10,000+ TEA partiers in the middle of nowhere – these guys can’t even gear up the troops where they are thickest on the ground.

This issue is a loser for the left.