Blog Heap of Links for the day 12 July 2011

In recent days we've seen a number of left-wing spokesmen ranging from Bill Maher to Frank Rich dismissing Obama as a disappointment -- too centrist, too moderate, not at all the American Lenin they'd ordered. Even Mark Halperin, who would fracture his nose if any Democratic politician ever stopped short, dismissed the messiah as a "dick" on MSNBC. ... The explanation for this is quite simple: Obama has failed, but the ideology must go on.... [OR, the media is learning that if they act like Obama is a centrist, the gullible masses may believe it.]

Obama clearly paraphrasing Marx: "I do not want, and I will not accept a deal in which I am asked to do nothing. In fact, I am able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don't need...." "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!" -Karl Marx

ATF Senior Special Agent John Dodson says what he was asked to do was beyond belief. An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms senior agent assigned to the Phoenix office in 2010, Dodson's job is to stop gun trafficking across the border. Instead, he says he was ordered to sit by and watch it happen. Investigators call the tactic letting guns "walk." In this case, walking into the hands of criminals who would use them in Mexico and the United States.

A group of more than 600 mayors are calling on President Obama to strengthen and increase enforcement of the nation's gun laws in the wake of a controversial gun tracking operation that may have contributed to the death of at least one federal agent. ... New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who chair the group, also pushed for Obama to expand mandatory reporting requirements for gun dealers who sell multiple assault rifles and variants. By increasing the requirements beyond the currently mandated multiple handgun purchase laws, it would cut down on the number of AK-47 and AR-15 variant rifles that flow to Mexican drug cartels, the group said.... [Not as long as the Obama Justice Dept is PUSHING them!] Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have called for a similar strengthening of gun laws in the wake of operation Fast and Furious. [Obama's devious plan to undermine the 2nd Amendment is WORKING -- sort-of.]

The Democrat Congress couldn't pass the energy sector-killing Cap & Trade? No problem, President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just began to implement it as if it did. The Democrat Congress couldn't pass the union-payoff, anti-free choice Employee Free Choice Act? No problem, President Obama's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just began to implement it as if it did. Then there is President Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — and its December 21 illegal Internet power grab executed so as to then impose the absurd Network Neutrality. The Democrat Congress couldn't pass Net Neutrality — and in fact 302 of its members were opposed to the FCC unilaterally force-feeding it to us. Please note: The FCC has zero authority over anything unless and until Congress writes a law that says "Hey FCC, do this." And as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski readily admits, Congress has never done so with the Internet. ... The Media Marxists — the folks who are working to have the government control all news, media and communications — know this. They have moved past the "Fairness" Doctrine to other, bigger, newer forms of censorship. Mark Lloyd — a Hugo Chavez-loving Media Marxist whom the FCC hired as their inaugural "Chief Diversity Officer" — wrote a piece called "Forget the Fairness Doctrine" in which he details other ways to achieve the same silencing of the Right on the radio. But the Left is thinking long term — and that means Net Neutrality. The Godfather of the Media Marxist movement — Robert McChesney — describes Net Neutrality thusly: "(T)he ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control."

[O]ne year ago today, July 12, a Fatwa was placed on cartoonist Molly Norris who once wrote for the Seattle Times. Norris had drawn a cartoon in support of South Park after an episode featuring Mohammad was censored, she had suggested an Everybody Draw Mohammad day in protest. She later disavowed and apologized saying she meant no offense but to those who called for her death it didn't matter. Two months later Molly Norris went into hiding under an assumed name for fear of her life. She remains in hiding, somewhere in the US, to this day.

Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday, "The UN Security Council plans to discuss in July [on the 26th] the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday. The Arab League has said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September." ... Pro-Israel Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH, pictured right—>) who chairs the Subcommittee for mid-East relations, introduced H.R. 297, which says the United States should withhold "contributions to the regularly assessed biennial budget of the United Nations … if the General Assembly adopts a resolution in favor of recognizing a state of Palestine outside of or prior to a final status agreement negotiated between, and acceptable to, the State of Israel and the Palestinians."

In June we attended the Printer's Row Literature Festival in Chicago. City blocks were closed off for tents and booths full of all types of literature. We presented a board with a selection of well known book covers and asked visitors of the event if they could choose to ban any of the books on the board, which if any, they would in fact ban. ... Participants overwhelming chose Sarah Palin who received 53 votes putting her at 36% overall, Glenn Beck at 23% and Ann Coulter at 22%. All of the other choices received a very minimal amount of votes, with the next most popular to ban being Adolf Hitler at 0.5%.

Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry United States Army For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008.

Martin Bashir Monday falsely accused former Alaska governor Sarah Palin of calling President Obama a sugar daddy. Not only did the MSNBC host badly misinterpret Palin's words, he clearly doesn't understand what a sugar daddy is (video follows with transcript and commentary) ... Palin was calling "hard working taxpayers" that have been footing the bill for others the sugar daddy - NOT Obama.

I take it as a mark of GREATNESS that she was willing to do what everyone considered political suicide and resign for the good of her state and the people she served.

So, why are there not more establishment voices calling for such a visible and pragmatic Palin to toss her hat in the ring? My guess is, because she is more one of us, than any political establishment. If you begin to understand — and accept that — you may be beginning to understand Palin and what she represents to so many. Unfortunately, as shocking as it may seem, the fact is, more than fearing the political opposition in the form of Democrats, or Republicans, what America's political establishment fears most of all is "we the people." That, in large part, is what Ronald Reagan represented leading to such strong opposition to him from the GOP establishment, as well.

159 >Thank God I live in OKC. We're having a big gun show this weekend and I'm thinking of picking up an auto small enough to hide easily, but has a calibur big enough to knock someone on their ass on the first shot. Soona....take a look at the Walther PPS. Comes in both .40 and 9mm. It is ugly as sin, but feels really good in the hand and is very slim. I've been carrying mine for 18 months and it is a joke to conceal.