The OJ Simpsons!!

Laugh out loud funny...d'oh!

Inaugural Link Dump

For interested parties, here's a collection of reactions to the Inaugural:

Pam over at Atlas says it's time to drink the Kool-Ade.

Hugh Hewitt, as always, accentuates the positive .

CNN genuflects .

Front Page's David Horowitz gives us a heads up on How Conservatives Should Celebrate the Inauguration —

Daniel Farber / CBS News:Colin Powell: The America We Remember Is Back Again.

Jonah Goldberg talks about What Obama brings to conservatives.

Allahpundit at Hot Air has an Open thread: Obamapotheosis.

Cathy Young attempts to examine The Paradox of Bush - and Obama

Mickey Kaus dissects Obama's speech.....

Al-Arabiya Reporter Giggles As Hamas Missile Is Launched From Her Building..

Hat tip, Omri at Mere Rhetoric

Your Local Newcaster..

Courtesy of Ya'akov at Dry Bones, of course!

The 'Post-Racial' Inaugural Benediction

Courtesy of the Reverend Joseph Lowery:

'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day


Black will not be asked to get in back;

When Brown can stick around;

When Yellow will be mellow;

When the Red Man can get ahead, man;

And when White will embrace what is right.

That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...


What, you thought this stuff was over with? I have to admit, I'm surprised Obama okayed this. Or maybe not....

I have a couple of words for the good reverend, and I assure you they are not 'Bless you.'

UPDATE: As Gateway Pundit reveals, this is the same jerk who attacked President Bush while he was attending Coretta Scott King's funeral.I'd forgotten about that one.

A Few Words On The Inauguration

I haven't had a great deal to say about the coming inaugural,but I suppose I should...

As my regular readers know, while I'm certainly happy to see Dubya ride off into the sunset (and I will definitely have a little something to say about that later) I did not support Obama for the presidency, and as things shook out, I was once again placed in a position where I had to hold my nose and nerve myself up to vote, and if it wasn't for Sarah Palin I might not have managed it without a lot of Bushmills finest to steady my nerves.

But like the song says, that's all over now.

Tomorrow, Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the president of these United States, and I wish him the best of luck at the job. He certainly worked hard enough at getting it.

In a way,he reminds me of the old story about the dog who ran for miles chasing after a car and finally caught it - and then had to figure out what to do with it. Hopefully he'll make some wise choices. I have my doubts, but I'm willing to wait and see.

Unlike the Angry Left, I actually am a patriot. And because of that, I understand that President Obama's success will be America's success,just as his failure will be America's failure. We have only one president at a time, and you won't see me throwing tantrums over Obama's ascension to the Oval Office or running around with cute bumper stickers saying 'Don't blame me, I voted Republican' the way the Angry Left did during the last two election cycles.

If some Arab creep throws a shoe at President Obama, you won't see me make cute little jokes about it...because I'm smart enough to realize that those shoes are directed at the whole country. That's just how it is.

In spite of all the brew ha ha, I don't regard this as any more historic than other inaugurations.

I'm sure the media are going to milk the 'first Black president' riff for all it's worth,but I find it borderline offensive. Perhaps even the president himself may do so,although I hope not. Unlike many of these people, I find Obama's race to be of supreme unimportance because I've always had a better opinion of America and its people than they have. And I never thought that Americans would turn away from a Black presidential candidate solely because of his race.Some Americans undoubtedly did,just as a large number of Black folks voted for Obama out of racial solidarity...but not enough to make a difference, in either case.

So the idea that America has somehow 'redeemed' itself somehow because we voted to put a half-Black President in office is a fantasy of the same sort of guilty leftards who, deep down, are downright nervous and uncomfortable around Black people unless they're some kind of abstract cause rather than sitting down in the living room next to you.

So I won't be watching the inaugural coverage tomorrow as some kind of historic must-see, although I may listen to the speech or watch a video of it, just as I would for any other president.I already know Obama is capable of giving soaring speeches long on platitudes and oratory and short of substance (CNN has, believe it or not already had its Chris Matthews moment, writing in a 'news' article that Obama's speech tomorrow will be "something people will want to chisel in granite"...I kid you not).

I'm sure whatever Obama has to say will be well phrased and delivered with his usual flair in that modulated baritone of his. But now that the doggy has caught the car he chased after so hard, I'm much more interested in what he plans to do with it. And time will tell.

Bill Ayers Refused Entry Into Canada

AKA 'Don't throw your garbage up here, eh!'

William Ayers, the 1960s radical whose ties to President-elect Barack Obama caused trouble for his campaign, was turned away from Canada Sunday night as he tried to enter the country for a series of educational events.

Jeffrey Kugler, the executive director for the Center for Urban Schooling at the University of Toronto, said Ayers was deemed not admissible after being pulled aside by Canadian immigration officials while trying to clear customs at the Toronto airport.

(...)

Ayers, a co-founder of the violent Weather Underground group and current education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told the Toronto Star that he didn't know why he had been turned away.

That last part kills me..'Ayers didn't know why he had been turned away...'
Ayers is a college professor and can't figure this out?

Well done,Canada. He was born here, acquitted on a legal technicality, and thanks to a wealthy and prominent family is now a part of our academic community which seems to lack any moral standards whatsoever. So we're stuck with him, it seems.

But there's no reason Canadians should let him pollute the soil of their country because of that.

Ramos And Compean Have Sentences Commuted by Bush

Well, it certainly took him long enough.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were US border patrol agents who made the bad mistake of actually trying to do their jobs and stop a Mexican drug dealer from entering the country illegally.In the course of doing that, they shot and wounded him, believing he was armed.

This, of course did not sit well with the Bush Administration and its open borders policy, so the two agents were viciously prosecuted and convicted for assault with a dangerous weapon, serious bodily injury, violation of civil rights, and obstruction of justice, the last ludicrous charge which was later overturned on appeal because their supervisors were actually on the scene when the incidents occurred.

They received ten year sentences, while the drug dealer, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was actually given a special pass to cross the border back and forth legally whenever he chose because he was a federal witness. During one of those trips,he was caught again with a load of drugs bound for America but never prosecuted for it.

Ramos and Compean lost their freedom, their jobs and their federal benefits and pensions. Their families were bankrupted by their loss of earnings for the two years they spent rotting in jail - on top of the onerous legal fees

The two border patrol agents were given such harsh sentences as an 'example' to any of their fellow agents who were thinking of doing more than going through the motions on the job, and a number of them resigned afterwards.

It should be noted that Bush did not pardon Ramos and Compean. He merely commuted the balance of their sentences. They still remain convicted felons, with all that entails.

It's also worth noting that the 'compassionate conservative' has been notably stingy when it comes to executive clemency. Bush has granted a total of 189 pardons and 11 commutations, fewer than half as many as Presidents Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan issued during their two-term tenures. And according to the White House, there won't be any more of them, which means Scooter Libby and Michael Milkin are out of luck, and Jonathan Pollard will continue to rot in jail. And come to think of it, there's something these guys have in common, isn't there?

I can't say it's unexpected. Even Ramos and Compean likely got their sentences commuted because virtually the entire bi-partisan Texas congressional delegation and a number of other prominent politicians leaned on the current occupant of the White House for clemency.

HUGE Natural Gas Find In Israel

Israel has discovered a huge natural gas deposit about 90 kilometers off of its shores in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Conservative estimates put a value on the discovery of at the very least at $27 billion. Not only is it capable of meeting all of Israel's natural gas needs for decades, but it has the potential of changing the entire economic and strategic situation in the Middle East. Israel now is a high tech, highly developed country that is resource poor but has depended on the ingenuity of its people - its human resources - to move its economy. One can only imagine what Israel will be able to do with energy wealth in the same league as the Arabs.

For instance, given the way Russia has been playing cat and mouse with Europe using Russia's control of gas supplies, we might just see the EU discovering a new found love for Jews and Israel as Israel develops into an alternative source for them..just as a coincidence, I'm sure.

And we might also see American energy companies and even politicians kowtowing to Israel the way they've kowtowed to the Arabs for years.

Presently, Israel buys a great deal of its natural gas from Egypt, which badly needs the revenue. Once this field is developed,they will not need to...which will also affect the relationship between the two countries.

Israel..Caught In The Crossfire

Courtney Love On Jew Lawyers And Bankers...

You remember Courtney Love, don'tcha? Yeah, the heroin-addled moron who still apparently gets paid to be an 'artist', or at least for having been married to one?

Now that Jew-hating is fashionable again, Love decided that she'd weigh in to get a few headlines and get right in on the trend:

Love, whose mother is Jewish but who describes herself as Buddhist, says of ex-husband Kurt Cobain's legacy: "Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt's child, or to me, it's going to a handful of Jew loan officers, Jew private banks, it's going to lawyers who are also bankers . . ."

Nice to know she's giving up some Nirvana royalties to help support Israel..or did I miss something?

What a pathetic train wreck of a human being....

Rush Limbaugh Interviews Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter's new book 'Guilty' is out, and she finally gets a substansive interview..from Rush Limbaugh. An informative must see, in four parts.

Hamas Continues To Fire Rockets At Israel As IDF Starts Withdrawal Under Fire

As I predicted, the IDF is already starting its retreat under fire as Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel at readies its troops to take over the Israeli positions.

Last night and this morning, 15 Hamas rockets hit Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot, injuring five Israelis.Hamas leader Mussa Abu Marzuk in Damascus gave Israel an ultimatum, saying that the IDF has one week to withdraw all its forces and open all the border crossings in exchange for 'quiet', something that essentially means that things will return to the status quo with rockets fired at Israel now and then. Hamas has not committed to a real ceasefire and were very plain that its war with Israel will continue.

Israel's security chief Major-General Amos Yadlin predicted that while the missile attacks may lessen while Hamas replenishes its arsenal, Hamas will likely continue its war using 'unconventional tactics' such as homicide bombers within Israel.



A number of European leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic are visiting Israel and Egypt today. Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt reiterated to them that Egypt does not consider itself bound by the vague Memorandum of Understanding on arms smuggling signed by Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and US secretary of state Condi Rice. Egypt is not committing to assisting in any kind of control of Iranian weapons heading into the Gaza Strip, will not allow any foreign monitors to operate on Egyptian soil and is insisting that all border crossings be opened immediately - except, of course, the Egyptian border fence controlling traffic from Gaza to Egypt.

The European leaders are reportedly pressuring Israel to open the border crossings to Gaza unconditionally to allow so-called humanitarian aid and construction materials into Gaza as part of the $1.6 billion package they have planned for the Strip. If Israel agrees, as they probably will, a lot of that construction material will go to rebuild Hamas bunkers and fortified tunnels.

Europe has essentially chosen to aid a genocidal terrorist faction in its war against Israel.

Israel Capitulates

The current Israeli government once again decided to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory, announcing a unilateral ceasefire.

Within minutes of it being announced, Hamas celebrated by firing off a barrage of missiles at southern Israel. One of them scored a direct hit at a synagogue in Tifrah, near Ofakim. Fortunately it was empty,but the building was heavily damaged.

The triumvirate of Olmert, Livni and Barak essentially caved in to pressure from the EU and the US and the UN and obtained absolutely nothing concrete in exchange.

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni met in Washington and cobbled together a hasty Memorandum of Understanding so vague that even Livni admitted was more a starting point than any kind of detailed agreement.

Like the ceasefire imposed on Israel to end the Lebanon War,which was also Condi Rice's handiwork and accepted by Livni, it does absolutely nothing to halt Hamas' aggression or prevent them from rearming. All it does, really, is to mouth some platitudes about using 'international partners' and 'Egyptian cooperation' in stopping Iran from smuggling weapons to Hamas.

Even Livni must know in her putrid heart of hearts that this is farcical.

Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak returned from the Arab summit in Kuwait with a fiery speech last night demanding that Israel cease all military action and pull its forces out of Gaza immediately...and declaring that Egypt would not allow any international monitors of the border crossings on its soil.

By saying so, Mubarak made it even plainer that the Rice/Livni MOU is simply a bad joke at Israel's expense.

As for Hamas, they've already declared that they will not abide by the ceasefire.

And after all, why should they?

Like Hezbollah after the Lebanon war,they will present this as a victory, and fire just enough rockets at Israel to underline that fact while they rebuild their tunnel network and rearm.They have given up absolutely nothing, not even agreeing to release Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit - if he's even still alive.

Not only that, but the international community is preparing a massive $1.6 billion influx of reconstruction aid to Gaza, while Israel will not receive a single penny to help rebuild the damage Hamas caused to the southern part of the country.

And the IDF?

They're reportedly livid at having victory snatched away from them by the weakest government in Israel's history. Certainly the e-mails I'm getting bear this out,with the most common comment being, 'what did we fight for'?

The toll on the army's morale is likely to be heavy. So will the toll at the ballot box for Labor and Kadima,which could have interesting implications for the Obama administration's relationship with Israel if they're faced with a center/right government under Likud that actually refuses to knuckle under to the 'international community' and intends to defend the country.

According to the 'ceasefire', the IDF will remain in place for now, only responding when fired upon...which means they're sitting ducks. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that they will be withdrawn under fire in a week or less, as Hamas parades its victory.

While Israel's weak and ineffectual government obviously went along with the program willingly,the fact that they were subjected to this kind of pressure by the US, the EU and the UN in order to preserve a murderous terrorist enclave is significant.

The Europeans, faced with violent riots at the hands of their restive Muslim populations allied with the anti-Israel Angry Left especially wanted quiet at any price, and they were quick to identify themselves with the 'anti-Zionist' forces.

A brief glance at this video of British riot police fleeing attacking mobs howling 'Allahu akbar' is a good illustration of how Hamas won this war not on the battlefield but in the media and the streets:



In America too, we saw the open coming together of the Islamists and the Angry Left in well organized and well financed demonstrations only slightly less violent than what went on in Europe.

And in both Europe and America, the protests made a point of no longer limiting the attacks to Israel but on all Jews, and they were accompanied by wholesale attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions, especially in France and Britain.

Things have changed.

This was a major defeat not only for Israel but for the West. And there is no doubt in my mind that historians will later see this as an important turning point in the War on Jihad.

The Root Causes Of the Gaza War in Less Than 6 Minutes

In this video, from Occidental Soapbox, you will get all you need to know about the root causes of the Gaza War, the history that led up to it, why a ceasefire is impossible and how it will end...all in less than six minutes!

Hat tip to the Baron at Gates Of Vienna

"Ha Ha...Your Media Is Dying!"

Dedicated to icons of the Dinosaur Media like the New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The San Francico Chronicle, Time, Newsweak and a whole bunch of other biased, Leftist rags....

And I can't wait for the alphabet networks and CNN follow along the same path.

Fresh Evidence Of Iran's Ramped Up Quest For Nukes

Not that any of my regular readers need it, but a whole slew of new evidence has recently surfaced about recent efforts by Iran to evade sanctions and acquire metals from China used to make long-range nuclear missiles and other high tech weaponry...and their use of European banks to finance the transactions.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Iran's efforts are detailed in a series of recent emails and letters between Iranian companies and foreign suppliers seen by The Wall Street Journal. Business records show one Iranian company, ABAN Commercial & Industrial Ltd., has contracted through an intermediary for more than 30,000 kilograms (about 66,000 pounds) of tungsten copper -- which can be used in missile guidance systems -- from Advanced Technology & Materials Co. Ltd. of Beijing. One March 2008 email between the firms mentions shipping 215 ingots, with more planned.

The United Arab Emirates has informed the U.S. that in September it intercepted a Chinese shipment headed to Iran of specialized aluminum sheets that can be used to make ballistic missiles. A month earlier, UAE officials also intercepted an Iran-bound shipment of titanium sheets that can be used in long-range missiles, according to a recent letter to the U.S. Commerce Department from the UAE's Washington ambassador.

Evidence of Iran's efforts to acquire sensitive materials also is emerging from investigations by state and federal prosecutors in New York into whether a number of major Western banks illegally handled funds for Iran and deliberately hid Iranian transactions routed through the U.S. One focus of the inquiries is the role of Italy, including the Rome branch of Iran's Bank Sepah and Italy's Banca Intesa Sanpaolo Spa. Banca Intesa said it is cooperating in the inquiries.

{...}

U.S. and European governments have grown increasingly alarmed in recent months at the speed they believe Iran is developing ballistic-missile and nuclear capabilities. Last year the United Nations Security Council, which includes China, formally imposed sanctions on Iran's military and most of its banks for nuclear proliferation activities.

As the article reveals, the Chinese have been evading the sanctions by using deliberately created loopholes in the UN sanctions resolutions...for instance, the powdered form of tungsten copper is prohibited by the accords China agreed to adhere to, but tungsten copper ingots aren't banned, even though they're essentially the same material in a slightly different form that can be easily configured to make missiles just as the powdered form can.

European banks are apparently taking the same laissez-faire attitude when it comes to financing the mullah's nuclear programs:

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he is conducting a broad inquiry into illegal transactions by Iran. Last week, Lloyds TSB of London agreed to pay $350 million to settle U.S. sanctions-busting charges with Mr. Morgenthau's office and the Justice Department. The bank admitted it violated U.S. law but said the practice has ceased.

"There are nine other banks that we think were doing this," said Mr. Morgenthau in an interview, including Barclays PLC of the U.K. A Barclays spokesman had no comment beyond a prior disclosure confirming the inquiry. Other banks under scrutiny in the probe include Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, people with knowledge of the inquiries said. Credit Suisse "is cooperating with the New York County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and other governmental authorities," the bank said in a statement. A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment.

The current occupant of the White House had a few things to say about making tough decisions to 'keep us safe' in his farewell address last night.

It's obvious to me that he punted on one of the biggest ones.

Costly Inaugurations - The AP Has Diff'rent Strokes For Diff'rent Folks

Completely predictable, by the way....NewsBusters compares the then and now and catches the Associated Press with their pants down and their bias showing:

Here's the AP in January 2004, writing a 'news story' about George W. Bush's 2004 Inaugural:

President Bush’s second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?

■ 200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.

■ Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.

■ A down payment on the nation’s deficit, which hit a record-breaking $412 billion last year....

The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?

Now let's move forward to January 2009 and the AP's take on the Obama Inaugural:

For inaugural balls, go for glitz, forget economy
So you're attending an inaugural ball saluting the historic election of Barack Obama in the worst economic climate in three generations. Can you get away with glitzing it up and still be appropriate, not to mention comfortable and financially viable?

To quote the man of the hour: Yes, you can. Veteran ballgoers say you should. And fashionistas insist that you must.

"This is a time to celebrate. This is a great moment. Do not dress down. Do not wear the Washington uniform," said Tim Gunn, a native Washingtonian and Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Inc.

"Just because the economy is in a downturn, it doesn't mean that style is going to be in a downturn," agreed Ken Downing, fashion director for Neiman Marcus.

So, lessee....Bush gets slammed for running a cheaper affair during a better economy, while Obama gets fist bumps for running the most expensive inaugural in history, over $150 million, during a major economic downturn.

Sounds fair and balanced to me - NOT!

hat tip to Ace

Watcher's Council results, 1/16/09

The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies is here.

This week's winner on the Council was yours truly, for The Hidden Story On Gaza , my piece connecting the dots on the political aspects and back ground of the war. Thanks gang, as always...I appreciate it.

In second place was Right Truth for America Said NO, Debbie Hamilton's fine piece on the Bush Administration's refusal to aid an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.That decision may well end up having far more to do with the current occupant of the White House's legacy than the Iraq war does.

Also getting votes were Soccer Dad for Both sides now , Mere Rhetoric with Media Outlets Can’t Get Over The Tactical Brilliance Of Hamas’s Use Of Human Shields, and The Provocateur with Some Perspective on the Great Loan Modification Scam.

Among the non-Council entries, I was particularly glad to see that the winner was my nominee, Seraphic Secret's Robert Avrech writing over at Big Hollywood with an excellent piece, Learning From the Real Battle of Algiers . Robert compared the classic film - a masterpiece of leftist/Islamist propaganda - with the reality of what actually happened there. As I told him, I can't wait for him to finish part two. Some Hollywood sequels actually do work out well!

In second place was a great Ralph Peters NY Post column on Gaza that was reprinted in Front Page Magazine, Hamas’ Brutal Legacy .

As usual, congratulations not only to the winners, but to all the participants.

Obama To Annouce $1 Billion In Cuts From Israel Loan Guarantees?

This is from Ha'aretz, so it should taken with a grain of salt, but given whom Obama has around him it's at least plausible:

The United States administration plans to cut about $1 billion from the balance of its loan guarantees to Israel because of its investments in the settlements. The balance currently stands at $4.6 billion.

Washington has not officially informed Jerusalem of the cut. The assumption is that the announcement, and the decision over the exact extent of the cut, will come only after Barack Obama is sworn in as president next Tuesday.

Israel has used about $4.4 billion of the $9 billion in loan guarantees extended by the U.S. in 2003 in the wake of the war in Iraq and to help shore up the Israeli economy. The guarantees have assumed greater importance recently in light of the global economic crisis and the Finance Ministry intention to use the guarantees to secure foreign loans to help pay for the expected government budget deficit.

The loan guarantees arrangement specifies that the U.S. will reduce the guarantees by the amount the Israeli government spends on settlements in the West Bank. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv monitors that spending and the administration informs Jerusalem of the amount it is holding back from the guarantees.

In the past two years no such announcement was made, but in unofficial talks held recently U.S. officials indicated that the cut would be about $1 billion.

I wonder...is the US planning on cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority based on the amount it sends to Hamas, or uses to pay the salaries of the terrorist Al-Aksa brigades?

Somehow, I don't think so...

Hope n'change!

hat tip to Carl